Saving Maria
by Fortune
Summary: A noble deed begets a bitter test of virtue when Silver and Sonic journey back in time to rescue Maria from being killed aboard the ARK. Some things just aren't worth their price.... #CO3#
1. Baggage

Chapter 1 – Baggage

The intensifying roar of a departing commercial jet all but drowned out Amy Rose's voice as she called to her husband across the crowded airport terminal.

"Sonic!" she shouted again, this time snaring his attention. "Over here!" The famous blue hedgehog weaved through the ceaseless torrent of people to her side, keeping a firm grip on their young daughter's hand. At five years old, Misty Iris was well capable of keeping up with him, but in this setting he wasn't about to take any chances. Seven year old Mercury, on the other hand, was left to fight his own way through as he trailed them.

"Ah, here we go," Sonic chirped now that the arrival listings they'd sought were in sight. He lifted a guiding finger in front of him as he scanned the information. "…Looks like it's landed already. Wonder what the holdup is."

"_Mommy_," Misty whined, wrenching from her father's grip to tug on Amy's dress, "I'm hungry!" The pink hedgehog placed a gentle hand on her head.

"I know, sweetheart. It shouldn't be too much longer."

At last, the passengers of flight 486 began to deboard and emerge from the designated gate. Having flown non-stop from Hong Kong, the jumbo aircraft harbored well over 300 individuals; the hedgehogs found themselves waiting several more minutes before the one they'd come to meet walked into view.

"Hey! Silver!!" Sonic yelled, briskly waving his outstretched arm overhead. Silver the hedgehog smiled wide as his golden eyes caught sight of his friend. He wasted no time trotting over and energetically greeted the family.

"Sonic, Amy, good to see you two again!" His quill-crowned head tilted aside to peek behind them as they reciprocated his sentiments. "And you brought the kids!" He took a step back to look the children over, about whom he'd heard from the media and correspondence but until now had never met. Mercury stood about as high as Sonic's chest and bore a jet black body accented with metallic red highlights on his chest and quill tips. As with all young hedgehogs, the quills still retained their thin, thorn-like appearance; they wouldn't start to gain a distinctive definition to them until he neared adolescence. Misty, who measured just past her father's hip, was a sateen shade of deep lavender. Just like her parents, the color solidly graced everything but her bare muzzle, arms, and tummy. She set her pink tourmaline eyes on Silver with a heavy scowl as her hands planted themselves on her hips.

"It's about time!" she huffed, warranting a stern glance from Amy. Silver took the gripe in good humor.

"Sorry to keep you guys waiting," he leaned in and addressed the children. Misty merely pivoted away, but Mercury was privy to respond.

"It's all right, Mr. Silver," the boy stated mildly, earning a grin from the nickel-hued hedgehog.

As he reached into a plastic shopping bag in his hand, a mysterious pale blue glow emanated from Silver's body. "I brought you a present!" He withdrew an anime action figure model kit, and as his hand released its grip, it floated over into an awestruck Mercury's hands. Having turned at the mention of gifts, Misty too stood gaping.

"How'd you do that?!" Mercury stammered, eyes wide.

"I'm a psychokinetic," Silver answered, reaching into the bag again. "I can move and manipulate stuff with my mind."

A small pachirisu plush drifted over to Misty next, who received it in dumbfounded silence while Mercury spoke for her. "AWESOME!!"

Silver belted out a laugh. "Yeah, it's a lotta fun!" His body hovered in mid-air as he threw himself back and crossed his arms behind him as if lying on an invisible hammock. The boy grew all the more excited.

"Do me, do me!!"

"_No!_" Sonic quickly objected, not soon to forget his own experience with the powers. Silver's smile turned sheepish as he lowered himself back to his feet.

"It's kinda dangerous to use on other people," he explained, "but I can give you a better demonstration later!"

"Yeah!!" came the eager reply.

"—As long as your dad's okay with it," Silver added, glancing up at Sonic.

Mercury blinked, quiet for a second. "He's not my dad."

"Oh…!" Silver's face flushed red as his eyes traveled back to Sonic and Amy, who to his relief conveyed mild amusement. "My mistake!"

Misty peered up at Sonic as she leaned into his side. "Can we go eat now??"

"All right, you can go eat!!" he answered in exasperation, then glanced back up at his guest, chuckling. "Got any checked luggage?" At Silver's nod, he turned to Amy. "How 'bout you go ahead and take the kids to get supper and I go with Silver to get his bags?"

"Sounds good," Amy replied and promptly departed, Misty happily skipping alongside while Mercury followed, casting one more glance back.

"…Thanks for the present, Mr. Silver!" he finally remembered to say.

"Don't mention it!" Silver called over his shoulder as he and Sonic headed the other direction.

"So how's the trip been so far?" Sonic asked.

"Great!! So far I've been to Europe, Australia, and Asia. I appreciate you guys' letting me stay with you here!"

"Not a problem! I take it you intend to tour the whole country?"

"Oh yeah, definitely! I wanna see it all!"

"Any particular reason you're doing it in this time instead of your own?"

"Well," Silver held the word for a moment, "it's just that everything's so modernized in my time. It's so much more interesting in this one, and there's so much more culture!"

Sonic nodded, and then his eyebrow cocked a bit. "Meet anyone special?" The question was met with a shy cough.

"Nah, there's plenty of time for that later!"

"Heh, I was the same way," Sonic admitted, "but when it happens, it happens fast! Just don't do what I did and put it off 'til it gets messy."

Silver glanced aside. "Oh, uh, sorry about that…dad thing with, uh..."

"Mercury," Sonic provided.

"Mercury, that's it! Yeah, I wasn't…sure if he knew…."

Sonic couldn't help but chuckle. "Yeah, he knows. He mostly stays with Shadow, but he wanted to come out with us and meet you."

"Oh. And how's Shadow doing these days?"

"Pretty good, little on the grouchy side. Mercury's about to that age, you know, where they start being out on their own more, and I think it's kinda bothering him. I know I'm not looking forward to it with Iris…but at least I've got Amy…."

Silver blinked reflectively. "So he still hasn't found himself a girl?"

"Goil?" Sonic echoed his accent, breaking into laughter. Silver snorted.

"A mate!"

"Hehe! Nothin' yet," Sonic returned, "but Amy and I have set him up on a few dates. I think he's on one right now, actually!"

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

A strange expression was well set into Shadow's face as he glanced up from his meal at the cream-toned shrew named Clover across the table, who hadn't stopped talking for at least two minutes. A piece of sweet and sour chicken sat cold on her fork, hovering just before her mouth while she carried on.

"And it's the same way with historic structures in Egypt," Clover continued. "If you look at that star and the positions of those around it, you'll see that it matches exactly the positions of the Sphinx and the pyramids, and the Nile runs through the same place as the blue asteroid belt!" Finally she took a bite, and precious silence filled their booth at the Happy Dragon restaurant. Noting the lop-sided conversation, she smiled apologetically. "Sorry, I tend to go off on a tangent once I get started on astrology. So what do you like to do for fun?"

Shadow considered it for a moment. "When my son is home we usually go skating in the evenings."

"Oh, that's nice!" she expressed, then giggled. "That reminds me of a funny story! One time I was out at the park, and there was this kid on rollerblades…."

Half an hour later, as they stepped out of the restaurant, Clover touched Shadow lightly on the arm. "Look, there's a full moon tonight!" He lifted his eyes to its cold glow. "They did a wonderful job on its reconstruction! Remember back when some nutcase blew a big hole in it?" Shadow's eyes fell.

"…Yeah…."

"I was still on Mobius at the time, but it was still a mess when I first moved here. The oceans were so nasty that it was actually illegal to go to the beach! So glad they got it fixed." After a couple more minutes spent on the subject, Clover blinked at her silent date. "I'm sorry; I hope I'm not boring you."

His distant gaze snapped to her. "No…I was just thinking."

"What are you thinking about?"

"An old friend of mine. She hated the moon."

Clover flinched back, appalled. "Who in their right mind would hate the moon?!" Shadow's face darkened at the words.

"She had her reasons."

Shortly thereafter, on Clover's moonlit doorstep, she expressed her thanks for the evening and the two traded bids good night. Shadow shifted uncomfortably as she lingered there, as if waiting for something else. "…Goodbye," he finally added, at which she blinked awkwardly, looking somewhat hurt.

"Bye…." Her voice was barely heard as she turned and slowly headed inside. Shadow remained there a moment longer, sighing deeply. His gut told him the same thing it had after his last three first dates; this relationship was going nowhere.

He wandered the streets afterward, aimless. He didn't want to go home when he knew that Mercury would be absent again tonight. Being there only served to remind him that it wouldn't be much longer before the boy stopped coming back altogether. Though the process was a completely natural fact of Mobian life, the heartache that came with it was nonetheless immense, enough to render him willing to allow Sonic and Amy to set him up on these dates. Fruitless as the pairings were turning out to be, at least they'd helped get his mind off things.

The harsh tint of a neon-lighted arch turned the tuft of fur on Shadow's chest bright blue as he strode past it. He squinted at the building behind it, realizing he was at the entrance of a local mall. After a glance through its glass doors, he turned about and headed in. His blood red eyes scanned the environment as they adjusted to its unnatural brilliance. Forming a giant square, the center offered stores on both the inner and outer walls all the way around. Of the scores of shoppers, at least a fourth of them were Mobian, a surprisingly high ratio. Shadow walked by several storefronts, pausing in front of a Hot Topic but deciding against going in upon catching an irritatingly strong whiff of hemp from within. The more appealing aroma of cinnamon-roasted almonds met him next as he made his way past a small stand called The Nuthouse. Finally he reached an empty bench facing the center court, on which he quietly seated himself. He crossed his arms and watched as both human and Mobian children played in a special enclosure filled with plastic equipment themed after various kinds of fruit; the pineapple was a ramp, the banana was a slide, and the apple had a giant wormhole tunnel that could be crawled through, among others.

It seemed like only months ago that Mercury was just a toddler, playing in places just like this. Shadow frowned recalling the pain he'd caused him despite his best intentions. Lost in his thoughts, he didn't notice someone had sat down next to him until she spoke.

"I'm surprised to see another hedgehog here!"

Immediately Shadow turned and found himself staring into the soft apricot eyes behind the voice. Dressed in a white button-up blouse, black vest, and navy skirt, the attractive lemon yellow hedgehog smiled at him. His mind went blank as he opened his mouth to speak, struggling to even comprehend what she'd just said. Thankfully, she went on. "You got a kid here or are you just hangin' out?" Her head tilted briefly toward the play area. Blinking, Shadow returned his gaze to it.

"…No……I...I'm just resting…." In the years since his exposure to the deadly gas that had almost claimed his life, his lungs had recovered to nearly their original condition, so he hadn't really needed to rest…but it sounded better than telling her he was sitting there watching a bunch of other people's kids for no reason. He drew a deep breath, instinctively trying to pick up her scent and determine if a male had yet laid claim to her, but all he could smell was cinnamon. She began to say something else when another female's voice cut her off.

"Hey, Raye!" a milk chocolate tanuki with dark chocolate stripes hollered as she jogged up, holding bags from several different stores. "Trixie and I are going to Best Buy across the street, so just meet us there, 'kay?" Her eyes widened as they darted between her friend and Shadow. "Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't realize you were talking to someone!"

Raye faced Shadow and pointed an open hand in the tanuki's direction. "Sorry, this is Cocoa, and I'm Raye. And…I don't believe I've gotten your name yet."

"Shadow," he responded, casting a glance of acknowledgement to Cocoa.

"Nice to meet you," Cocoa recited the formality, then looked again to Raye. "See you when you get off!"

Once Raye had bid goodbye to her departing friend, her attention returned to Shadow. "So you new in town?" He didn't even get a word out before a sudden commotion arose in the stretch of mall behind him. Loud shouts and furious footfalls rapidly approached, carrying in them an unmistakable urgency. He twisted about and blinked at the second interruption in mounting annoyance.

"STOP!!" a large man in uniform shouted to the adolescent boy he pursued, who ran with a laptop computer tucked under his arm. Being in much better physical condition, the thief was easily increasing the distance between himself and the guard. Shadow had had enough, however. He thrust into the air straight off the bench and performed a homing dash as the boy neared, nailing him right in the face with his knee, then flipped backwards as he completed the attack with a kick. The laptop landed hard and skidded across the floor while the crook did the same. Shadow steadied himself with one hand as his feet clapped down on the tile beside them. Seconds later, the security guard caught up to the scene, panting a few moments before he could speak. "…Thanks…" he breathed, "a lot…. It would've been bad if he'd gotten away with that."

"Don't know if it survived the drop," Shadow remarked, a glance falling to the computer.

"Busted is one thing," the guard replied, "that's no biggie, but having the data stolen would have been a _real_ problem. Thanks again. You need a job?"

Shadow blinked at the offer. "Actually I do."

"Great, great! You sure saved mine, so it's the least I could do."

Raye stepped up to the guard with the laptop in hand. "Here's the notebook." As she handed it over, Shadow was at last able to take in her pheromone scent.

…_Damnit._


	2. For Great Justice

Chapter 2 – For Great Justice

A lot went down over the following two weeks. Despite his doubts, Shadow really was hired onto Diamond Mill Mall's security staff. He'd assumed he would be disqualified during the background check, but as it turned out, they only reviewed his Earth record, which, mercifully, did not include the incident with Maple the opossum that occurred on Mobius. What it did include was an account of his brief service to the Guardian Units of Nations, more commonly referred to as GUN. That aspect, combined with a good word put in from the guard he'd helped, was more than enough to net him the job. Once all was official, he gladly notified the Rimlight Corporation that he would no longer be providing his specialized services. The company had paid him well to assist with its Chaos energy research for the last few years, but he'd been growing increasingly uncomfortable with how they were asking him to apply his resident power. The employment switch was thus a very welcome one.

This same timeframe also saw Silver through half of the United States. After a rigorous sampling of various customs, cuisines, and attractions, he returned to Station Square to rest a couple of days before taking on the remaining regions. The first was spent soaking the pillow of Sonic and Amy's guest bed with slumbering drool; on the second day he thanked his hosts for their hospitality by treating the family out to lunch at the locally owned Vinnie's Pizza.

"Too much pepperoni," Amy mumbled, picking the thinly sliced meat from her piece. Sonic quickly extended his plate to hers.

"I'll take it." He grinned as she deposited three brick red rounds on the top of his own.

Silver quietly eyed Misty, who was more interested in the gum she'd found stuck under the table than her meal. It finally came loose after a few minutes of prying, and she held it up to her nose for a quick sniff.

"Yep, it's mine!" she declared proudly.

Amy made a nauseated face. "Iris, that's disgusting! Throw that away and go wash your hands!" As the child went to do so, the restaurant's owner approached.

"Is everything to ya liking today, guys?" the middle-aged human asked, clasping his hands after wiping them on his grease-stained apron. He gave a smiling nod as the hedgehogs paid their compliments. "I'm working a bit on a new sauce ya might try next time." The man's eyes then paused on Silver. "I see you've brought a new friend by, Mr. Hedgehog?"

"Yeah, this is my buddy Silver," Sonic introduced. "He's visiting from out of town. Silver, this is the owner of the place…Tony, right?" he checked, to the proprietor's confirmation.

"Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Silver. Feel free to stop by anytime."

Silver spoke with his eyes on Tony's graying caramel hair lest he continue to stare at his knotted nose, "Thank you, I'll be sure to come here again before I head home!"

"Anything special ya plan on seeing or doing while you're here? Station Square's a big city..."

Sonic smiled to himself while Silver detailed his ambitious vacation plans, amused that the two shared similar accents. He watched as Tony's expression gradually shifted from genuine interest to regret for having asked. Finally the seasoned chef seized the opportunity to politely excuse himself.

"Well, I gotta go make sure the kitchen's in order so I'll see ya around!" he concluded, waving an arm as he made his retreat. Moments later, the hiss of a hand dryer escaped from the ladies' restroom as its door opened and Misty emerged. She hummed her off-key version of a theme from Peter and the Wolf while climbing back into the booth. Just as she reached for the remnants of her pizza, the plate under it suddenly turned green and began to slide away, causing her to flinch back, bug eyed. Silver snickered.

"It's gettin' away!" he teased, drawing the dish closer to his side of the table. Misty squealed loudly and slapped her hands over it, snatching off its prize.

"HA!!" Before he could possibly do anything else, she stuffed the entire piece into her mouth. Sonic and Silver both busted out laughing, but Amy just rubbed her temples.

"Please don't encourage her…."

"Sorry!" Silver released his psychokinetic hold and returned the plate manually. "So, uh," he changed the subject, "anything in this neighborhood worth hitting up while I'm out here?"

"Mm, there's the Diamond Mill Mall," Amy brought up.

"Oh yeah," Sonic added, "I heard Shadow got a new job there!"

Silver pulled the straw from his mouth and set down his nearly empty tumbler. "Doing what?"

"Security guard!" Another chuckle left Sonic. "I pity da fool who tries anything on his watch!"

"Heh! I think I'll stop by and see if he's working today, say hi." The silvery hedgehog's 18-karat eyes glanced up from his final bite of pizza. "You guys want to come along?" At that, Misty hurriedly swallowed the mega gob she'd been chewing forever.

"Yeah!!"

Amy shrugged. "I wouldn't mind a little shopping!"

"_Nah!_" Sonic joked obnoxiously, receiving a kick from Amy. "OW!! All right, all right!"

Nearly an hour later, the hedgehogs walked into Diamond Mill Mall's south entrance. Amy and Misty idled at an island shop selling board games and calendars while Sonic and Silver continued past to the directory kiosk. "Looks like the security office is on the other side of the mall," Sonic noted, pointing to the cell with a badge icon over it.

Silver gave a slow nod. "You gonna come?"

"Yeah, may as well. Lemme go see if Amy wants to." As Sonic made his way over to where Amy stood, she smiled brightly and held up a calendar bearing his own face on the cover.

"Look, here's the one you consented to last year!" She flipped it over to see the rest of the photos since the shrink wrap prevented her from flipping through. Sonic sidled close for a better look. She giggled at a couple of shots, but after a few moments her smile suddenly vanished. "Oh no!!"

"What, what's wrong?!' Sonic grabbed the calendar and gawked at it.

"Tomorrow's the fifteenth and I forgot to make the house payment!" The calendar dropped to Sonic's side.

"Geez…thought I had a booger hangin' out of my nose or something! Don't scare me like that!" He checked the pictures again, just to make sure.

Silver strode over, an eyebrow raised. "You guys coming or what?" Sonic looked up.

"Oh yeah!"

Inside the security office, a skinny lady with a bun in her curly orange hair greeted them. "Hello. What can I do for you?"

Silver responded, "Hi, we were wondering if Shadow the hedgehog is working today."

"He works the night shift," the clerk informed them, her face seeming to draw a bit tight. "Would you like to leave him a message?"

"Nah, that's okay. We'll stop by later. Thank you."

As the group stepped back out into the mall, Amy squinted at Sonic and Silver. "Did you see the face that lady made when we mentioned Shadow? What was that all about?"

Sonic shrugged it off. "He doesn't exactly draw love and admiration everywhere he goes." Amy returned a mild glare as he went on, "Try as he may, he just can't be me!"

"Guess I should've asked what time the night shift is," Silver mused through Sonic's corn. "Ah well, I ain't going back in there. I'll just check back later."

Misty gripped her mother's hand and shook demandingly. "I wanna go to Kay Bee!"

"You gonna stay here with Iris, Amy?" Sonic asked. "I think I'm gonna head back home."

"Yeah, we'll hang out for a little while," she confirmed, gently reciprocating Misty's arm rattling. Silver glanced aside.

"I think I'll go too, since I'm coming back later anyway. You two have fun! Bye bye, Misty!"

"Byyye!" the girl called back while dragging Amy away with her.

Sonic and Silver chatted as they worked their way back to the south end of the mall, touching on a wide assortment of mostly trivial topics. When Silver's furry mantle somehow made its way into the conversation, he turned his head to one shoulder and buried his nose in it.

"No, it still smells like pepperoni!" he remarked in contradiction to a claim on Sonic's part. The blue hedgehog shuffled in imposingly.

"Lemme smell!"

"Get away!" Silver cackled, shoving him back before pivoting about himself. His eyes widened at what they took in. "Oh, hey, it's Shadow!"

Sonic peered across the mall, catching sight of the distinctive red and black quills. "Huh! How 'bout that? Let's go say h-" A yank to his arm cut his sentence short and forced him behind a cardboard store display. He frowned at Silver in confusion.

"Don't go over there!" the pepperoni mantled hedgehog uttered in a slightly hushed tone, as if Shadow could somehow hear him from that distance. "Look, look what he's holding!"

Sonic blinked and squinted, almost expecting to find a gun in Shadow's hand, but what he actually possessed couldn't have been further from it. "…Flowers?"

"Yeah."

It seemed odd, but Sonic didn't think it warranted hiding. "So?"

"So maybe since he started working here he _has_ met a girl!" Silver filled in, poking him in the chest for emphasis. "One that he actually likes, I mean." Sonic's brow shifted as he pondered the notion.

"Huh…so you're wanting to watch him and see who he gives them to?" After a moment, Silver glanced back at him long enough to nod. Sonic coughed a laugh. "Wouldn't it be easier to just ask him?"

"We're talking about the prince of paranoia here!" Silver reminded him. "I don't think he'd even admit having flowers if we asked!"

"Heh, good point." There was a brief silence while Sonic mulled it further. "It _would_ be interesting to see who those are for!" A mischievous grin spread across his face.

Silver tensed. "He's leaving! C'mon!"

Shadow was carefully tracked through the mall, all the way to the east exit. The sudden spies glanced at each other after he continued outside, and in a wordless agreement, they decided to continue their mission. Great care was taken to ensure they remained at enough of a distance that their presence would not be betrayed. They were led several miles to a rural area well outside of the city, where mankind still had yet to spoil the picturesque beauty of the valleys. At last Shadow stopped and crouched at the base of a distinctive redwood. He plucked the withered remains of flowers from a knothole in the roots and replaced them with the fresh bouquet, then remained there with his head bowed, silent. Sonic blinked somberly as he realized what he was seeing.

"…It's somebody's grave…."

Silver's jaw slacked a bit. "Whose??" Sonic could only shrug and shake his head.

"We should go," he finally whispered. Silver nodded, and they'd just gotten up to depart when Shadow began to speak. Both turned his way again.

"What's he saying?" Silver prodded Sonic, unable to make out the words from so far away.

"I don't know, can't hear…." A gape of disbelief formed on Sonic's face as the psychokinetic suddenly hopped up and floated himself forth. He tried to grab him but just missed. "Silver!!" he hissed. "Come on, let him be!" His words went unheeded as his friend continued to silently advance. Once within hearing range, Silver very slowly let himself down and listened in.

Shadow's voice was soft but clear. "I know I promised myself that I would move on," he explained to an unseen soul, "but it's been extremely hard this year. Seems like everything's in fast forward, and if I try to turn my head it's going to break right off. I've been thinking of you a lot lately. It seemed like time stood still when we were on the ARK…and now…." He trailed off and shook his head. After a long pause, his tone wavered a bit as he went on, "I miss you. I hope you've made some friends up there."

Having heard enough, Silver quietly made his way back to Sonic's side and prompted their departure. As they journeyed toward Station Square, he relayed what he'd heard to Sonic, whose emerald eyes danced in thought.

"Hm. From what you've told me it sounds like he was talking about Maria."

"Who's Maria?" came the expected inquiry. Sonic proceeded to explain the tragic incident that had occurred aboard the ARK, how she was killed by GUN soldiers who had come for Shadow. Silver hung on every word, and by the end of the story was wiping his cheeks. "That's…awful!" he muttered hoarsely after a meek sniff. "No wonder he's so hateful and bitter and doesn't have a girlfriend!" Sonic nodded, though he couldn't help but crack a smile at the comment.

"Yeah, I guess it kinda messed him up…." Having left it at that, he didn't realize that the gears in Silver's head were beginning to turn. He did notice, however, that the hedgehog's already grueling pace was growing even worse. "C'mon, step it up!"

"Hey, Sonic," Silver began as he forced himself to kick it up a notch, "do you still have those Chaos Emeralds you got off Eggman's carrier?"

"Yeah, some of 'em. Why?"

"Well, I was thinking that maybe…we could make a difference in his life…."

"What do you mean?"

"We could use the emeralds to go back in time and save his friend!"

Sonic skidded to a halt, and his next word came out sounding more like a laugh. "What?!" But Silver held a straight face.

"This girl obviously meant a lot to him. She must've been like…like what Blaze is to me! I don't know what I'd do if something ever happened to her…." Sonic's mouth opened, but nothing came out. Silver reasoned further, "I would like to think that if something did happen, and you were able to do something about it, that you would…."

He had, once, Sonic realized, but because so much history had been undone, Silver had no recollection of it. A sigh escaped him as he turned around. "Well…."

"Just think how much it would mean to him! What a difference it would make in his life! How can we stand here with the power to make that difference in our hands and do nothing? That's just…wrong!!" His curled fists fell to his sides. Sonic remained silent, his back still to him. "If you don't want to do it," Silver finally resolved, "at least help me open a time rift so I can go."

"What," Sonic answered, turning to face him again, "you think I'm gonna miss out on the chance to throw myself in the middle of a bunch of bloodthirsty gun-toting soldiers?"

Silver blinked a couple of times, unsure if Sonic was being sarcastic. "…So you're in?"

"Heck yeah I'm in! Sounds like a blast!!"

"Great!! Let's do it!" Silver hopped to the blue hedgehog's side. "Give me one of the Chaos Emeralds." He watched as Sonic reached both hands behind him and touched his fingers to his quills, using a mental summons to trigger the emeralds' materialization. A shining gem instantly appeared in each hand, one of which was then handed over. Silver was nearly breathless as he looked up from his. "Ready?"

Sonic nodded, and the two simultaneously issued the command while holding their emeralds high, "_Chaos...Control!_" A blinding flash encompassed them, and within seconds a swirling rift tore the very fabric of space before them. Sonic tipped an open hand its way, signaling to Silver to do the honors. Once the pale gray hedgehog had leapt in, he quickly followed.

The hedgehogs landed side by side as they emerged from the other side of the rift, in the middle of a well-lit corridor. All was quiet.

"Hm. Guess we'd better find the action, huh?" Sonic quipped.

"Actually," Silver spoke up, "I had it take us back a little further so we'd have some time to prepare."

"Oh, hey, good thinkin'! So how much time we got?"

"About a week."

"A _week_?!"

"Yeah, we need to learn the layout of the place and all, right?"

Sonic snorted. "Learn it, not paint it!!"

"Better too much time than not enough," Silver pointed out.

"Ha! All I need is a moment!"

Just then, a door slid open on one end of the corridor. Both hedgehogs ducked for cover, Sonic curling up behind the protruding edge of a rafter and Silver suspending himself well overhead psychokinetically. They held their breath as a solitary individual walked past, whom they discovered to be a Mobian boar. Once the coast was clear, Sonic stood up while Silver dropped down. "Huh…I had no idea there were Mobians on board!"

Silver made a face. "There would need to be if Shadow was born here, wouldn't there?"

"Well, yeah, but he didn't really have a natural birth."

"But he's still part Mobian, right?"

Sonic scratched an ear. "Heh…guess I never really thought about it!" He faced the door through which the boar had exited. "At least we'll be able to blend in if there's other Mobians here. Let's go take a look around!" Both hedgehogs blinked in surprise as they reached the door and it slid up, revealing an absolutely massive room packed with people.

"Wow," was all Silver could manage. Sonic nudged him.

"C'mon, just act natural. See if you can find a directory or something." As they waded into the crowd seeking some kind of kiosk, a feeling of dejavu overcame Sonic; it was like they were at the mall again. The aura was reinforced when the unmistakable aroma of fresh chili dogs entered his nostrils. "Mmm! …Maybe hangin' out here a week won't be so bad after all!" Silver cracked a smile and nodded.

After a while they managed to find a diagram of the space colony's layout. Though lacking in detail, it seemed to indicate that the escape pods could be reached by going out the door on their right, so they traced the route. The farther from the plaza they went, the less people they saw, until eventually it was back to being just the two of them. Heading through yet another door, they found themselves in a somewhat large room of which the ceiling was several floors high.

Standing on one of the overhead catwalks was none other than Shadow the hedgehog. His eyes widened as they fixed on Silver and Sonic, and the next thing they knew he'd leapt from the catwalk and landed just before them. Both flinched back in surprise, then braced themselves in case he should attack…but he merely spoke.

"I had no idea there were other hedgehogs here…."

"Uhh, yeah, we're new around these parts," Sonic commented, making an effort to calm himself. "I'm Sonic the hedgehog, and this is Silver."

As always, Shadow was right to the point. "Why have you come?"

Sonic blinked, realizing too late that they hadn't adequately prepared themselves. He poked an elbow into his friend. "Tell him why we're here, Silver." From the expression on his face, he hadn't given that aspect any consideration either. He leaned over and whispered into Sonic's ear.

"_You want me to tell him?_"

"_Just make up something_," Sonic shot back.

"Umm, we're here to…conduct some…specialized research…." Silver started, but floundered trying to come up with a subject. Seeing Shadow's brow knit together at the behavior, Sonic quickly joined in.

"On the ultimate life form!" he finished. Shadow's eyes widened again at the words, but he said nothing. After a few tense moments of consideration, he turned away.

"Come with me," he said simply as he headed for the door. Sonic and Silver exchanged glances of uncertainty and began to follow when the black and red hedgehog suddenly stopped. "Oh." He turned back to them, harboring a surprising calm in his eyes. "I'm Shadow," the words came out mild, almost warm. "Welcome to the ARK."


	3. Maria's Shadow

Chapter 3 – Maria's Shadow

"..Thanks…!" It was all Sonic could stammer through his surprise. He glanced over at Silver as they resumed walking, whose eyes reflected an air of curiosity. Shadow's extending warm greetings was a curious thing indeed. It also threw Sonic off seeing him a couple of inches shorter than he usually did. It was almost like they were following a different person.

The three hedgehogs passed through a few sectors before ending up in one consisting of a long corridor lined with dozens of doors on each side, not much unlike that of a hotel. The doors even bore ascending numbers. Shadow stopped and turned to them in front of one marked 514.

"The person in this room can take you to who you need to see," he stated as he snaked an arm aside and knocked softly on the door. Seconds later, it slid open, and there stood a pre-adolescent human girl with straight blonde hair reaching just past her shoulders, whom Sonic found somewhat reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland. She addressed Shadow with a sweet smile.

"Back so soon?" Her powder blue eyes then jumped to the two additional guests, flaring round. "Oh…oh!! You met some other hedgehogs!" An excited grin emerged from her gape. "Here, come in!" She trotted over to a desk in the room's midst and backed herself against it. "I'm Maria," she introduced herself as the three stepped inside. "What's your names?"

Sonic turned up the charisma, as he always did in the presence of cute girls. He raised a finger as if to bring up a special point. "I'm Sonic! Sonic the hedgehog!" Though both she and Shadow had already known his species, it was only proper Mobian etiquette for a male to include it upon his initial introduction. He then retracted his finger and poked a thumb toward his time traveling companion. "And this is Silver."

Silver waved a nervous hand. "Nice to meet you." It felt weird to him staring at someone he knew was due to die within a matter of days. Despite his somber thoughts, he forced a smile.

"Nice to meet you too!" Maria turned about and retrieved a plate from the desk. "Would you like some cookies?" Sonic and Silver each thanked her and accepted one, and Shadow also helped himself while he joined her side. "I'm so glad Shadow ran into you!" she went on. "We didn't think there _were_ any other hedgehogs here!" At that point, Shadow whispered something into her ear. She turned to him, blinking, then just as quietly asked him a question, to which he shook his head. During their exchange, Sonic took the opportunity to sample his treat. Silver did the same, and after a few moments the two relayed expressions of mutual disgust. While Sonic quickly choked the rest of his down, Silver discreetly floated his under the desk to the nearest wastebasket. Soon after, Maria's attention returned to Sonic and Silver as she asked, "You're here to see the ultimate life form?"

"Yeah," Sonic confirmed, "if you'd happen to know where we can find him." He fought hard to resist smirking.

"Um, normally you would want to talk to my grandfather, but he's gone to Earth right now," she explained. "But I can take you to see Dr. Curoe instead." Sonic nodded.

"Sounds good."

"Okay." She began to set the plate back down but paused. "Oh, would you like another?" The offer was quickly met with polite declinations.

Soon the four were on their way, led by Maria through the maze of passages leading to the ARK's research center. One corridor was particularly elaborate and harbored several large windows along its entire length. Beyond the panes, countless scores of stars dotted the endless backdrop framing the cameo of the Earth.

Sonic couldn't take his eyes off the planet with the beautiful blue hue so much like his own. "Wow, check out the view!"

Silver was equally mesmerized. "I've never seen so many stars…."

Their comments caused Maria to stop and study the scene. She breathed a wistful sigh. "No matter how many times I see it, I never get tired of looking at the Earth."

"And there's the moon," Silver pointed out as he tipped to his left for a better look.

"Yeah," she acknowledged with a steep drop in enthusiasm. "Pretty soon it'll be in the way again. Shadow, go out there and move it!" The black hedgehog snorted.

"I would if I could."

She then turned to the other two. "You came from Earth, right? What's it like there?"

"Oh, it's great!" answered Sonic. "I mean, just like any place, it's got its pros and cons, but there's tons to see and do. If you don't like what you see, just keep going, and you're sure to find something better!"

Silver nodded. "The scenery and cultures are amazing! There's tropical beaches, swamps, deserts, mountains, rainforests…and the relics of ancient civilizations!" As he spoke, the human's yearning eyes returned to their object of desire.

"It sounds so neat," she reflected, pressing an open hand against the glass. "I really hope I can go there someday!"

Shadow shifted his mild gaze to her. "I'm sure you will." A solemn silence fell over Sonic and Silver following the comment, but after a few moments Sonic cracked a smile.

"Heh, you never know…it might be sooner than you think!"

Maria's lips hinted at a smile as well. "Shadow, if I do get to go…will you go with me?" She peered over her shoulder at him.

"Of course." His tone had never been gentler. "I look forward to it."

When the group at last reached the security door that divided the research center from the rest of the colony, Maria reached up under the tiny metal awning that shielded its keypad from view and depressed the appropriate combination. A loud click sounded, signaling that access had been granted. She saw the hedgehogs in and took them down the hall.

"I'll be right back," she told them just outside of an unmarked door, then headed inside. As soon as it closed behind her, Shadow began to walk off.

"Hey, where're you goin'?" Sonic called after him. He didn't even look back as he replied over his shoulder.

"The back door."

An eyebrow cocked as Sonic watched him disappear around the corner. "Hm." Soon the door opened again, and as Maria walked out and went her way she waved a quiet but amiable goodbye. Remaining in the doorway was a middle-aged man wearing a lab coat and glasses.

"Hello there!" he energetically greeted them. "Please come in!" He extended his hand as they stepped into the lab, providing each of theirs with a firm shake. "My name is Dr. Curoe; I'm acting as lead researcher in Dr. Robotnik's absence." Once his guests had introduced themselves, he proceeded, "It's a pleasure to meet you both. I understand you've come to execute a running assessment of the ultimate life form we have produced here."

"If it's no trouble," Sonic appended.

"Not at all. Right this way."

It became more apparent to Sonic and Silver as they advanced deeper into the lab just how immense the ARK's research facilities were. They noted that there were probably at least two dozen scientists working in the immediate vicinity and adjoining offices of this room alone. "To be honest," Dr. Curoe continued, "we weren't expecting any Mobian representatives to come this soon. We've primarily been in contact with the US Government of Earth—the same folks Dr. Robotnik has gone to meet with, actually. It seems some concerns have been raised on their end regarding the project, but as you'll soon see for yourselves, there's absolutely nothing to worry about. All aspects of the project are under our complete control." He punched in his code at a door marked RESTRICTED ACCESS and escorted the hedgehogs through it to a special room behind a thick glass wall. Only a small portion of it was blocked from view; the remaining area consisted of three levels that ascended like giant steps and housed a meager assortment of furniture including a bed, a table, some shelves, and a few chairs, most of which were strewn with personal effects. Curoe was quiet and his face rigid as he stood peering into the empty quarters. "He had better not even…." the flushing man growled under his breath. He unclipped a walkie talkie from his belt and spoke quickly into the piece, "Evans, this is Curoe. Where's Shadow?"

A man's voice transmitted back to him, "Uhh, I haven't seen him." Curoe rolled his eyes and exhaled like an angry bull.

"Has _anybody_ seen him?!" he barked back into the device. Sonic and Silver glanced at each other, uneasy. Soon there was another radio response.

"I see him; he's headed for the back." At that, Curoe turned and stared at the door down the hall through which they'd just come. Right on cue, it squeaked open and Shadow stepped in. A tense silence ensued as he approached, meeting Curoe's suspicious glare with one of his own. He also briefly made eye contact with the two hedgehogs standing by, but not a word was said as he continued past them into his quarters.

Keeping his back to the glass enclosure, Curoe sighed and addressed Sonic and Silver in a testy tone. "That would be Shadow, the ultimate life form, who never stays put when I tell him to." He assured as he turned to them, "But it's nothing to be concerned about…just an annoyance…." His teeth ground together through the words.

Sonic chuckled. "Say no more! We understand _completely_."

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

"We're back!" Sonic announced in Maria's open door, then stepped aside and stroked an arm past Shadow as if he were a game show prize. "And we've brought the ultimate life form!"

Maria grinned nervously. "Sorry I didn't tell you before. My grandfather says we have to be careful who we tell before the project's done."

"No worries; you did the right thing," he assured her as they came in. His trademark simper stretched his lips. "And now that that's all straightened out, we figured we'd borrow him from the personable Dr. Curoe." The comment was enough to draw a snort of contempt from Shadow while Maria giggled.

"He gets stressed out kind of easily," she noted.

Shadow didn't care to waste any more time on the topic. "So what now?"

"You tell me," Sonic replied. "What's there to do around here?" Confusion furrowed into Shadow's brow.

"Didn't you…bring me out of the research center for a reason…?"

Sonic shrugged. "Just thought you'd like to get out." He bit his lip as confusion morphed into outright surprise. The more he got to know the old Shadow, the harder of a time he had containing his amusement.

Maria pouted a bit. "I have to stay in my room tonight…but would you like to play a game?" Everyone looked to her.

"What kind of game?" Silver inquired.

"Mexican Train!" Her enthusiasm jumped with the name. "Ever played it?"

Sonic shook his head. "Never heard of it."

"It's a lot of fun! I'll show you how to play if you'd like to try it." The guests agreed, so she pulled a metal box out from under her bed and set it on the table, and the open history textbook, papers, and writing utensils already occupying the space were transferred to her mattress. The box made a high-pitched sound as its lid was removed, and then an entire set of dominoes was dumped out with a deafening racket.

Sonic glanced up at Shadow as they all took their seats. "You play this too?" He stifled another chuckle as the black and red hedgehog nodded.

"My grandpa taught us both," Maria added. "He's getting pretty good at it, so you'd better watch out!"

Once the rules were explained, all but one of the tiles were turned face down and shuffled in a noisy swirl. The exception bore double fifteens; it was placed in the midst of the rest as the starting domino. "Okay, now pick a train," Maria instructed, removing a colorful assortment of wooden steam engines from a fabric pouch and holding them in her extended palm. Sonic picked blue, and Shadow scowled after Silver picked red.

"That's the one I use…."

"Just pick another one, Shadow," Maria urged him. After a grudging hesitation, he selected green. She then picked the purple and white ones and put the rest away. "This is our side train," she announced, holding up the white piece. Everyone then drew 15 tiles each for their starting hands. "The youngest player goes first," she advised, "and that would be Shadow since he's only nine and a half months old!"

Shadow could feel the other two's widened eyes on him and quickly turned red. With ears folded back and eyes edged her way, he softly voiced his embarrassment.

"Maria…."

"Sorry," she giggled, "I just like to say that!"

"…Is he really only nine months old…?" Sonic had to know.

Maria nodded. "Mm hmm, but it doesn't seem like it because he's been learning really fast." Silver blinked in thought.

"Guess they don't call him the ultimate life form for nothing."

Hours later, the game was still underway, and Shadow had a predatory look in his eyes. He sharply rapped his solitary tile on the table. In the next seat, Sonic broke into a mischievous grin and slammed down a double three.

"Awwwwwwww, can't cover it!" he pretended to lament after drawing a spare bone. Silver blinked at his hand as Sonic's train went up, finding himself also forced to draw.

"Can't cover it." His train was already up, though, so it was no skin off his nose.

Maria winced at the tile she drew. "Ew, what an awful one!!" Her train went up too.

Sonic couldn't resist an evil cackle as he glanced over and found Shadow's hostile eyes on him. '_Ah yes, there's the Shadow I know_….' He stoked the smoldering hedgehog a bit more. "Can ya cover it?" Shadow remained silent but plucked a spare tile from the boneyard. His annoyance was hardly hidden as he set the little green train atop his domino track. Sonic's humor only increased as he drew next. "Well what do ya know?!" His newest tile clinked against the end of the double three, covering it at last.

"Oh good!" Silver uttered in relief, though still lacking a match. He stretched to reach the remaining bones on the table, but finding them too far away, he targeted one with psychokinesis and summoned it over. Eyes wide, Sonic kicked his friend in the leg, but it was too late.

"…How did you do that??" Maria marveled after her initial shock.

"Uhh," Silver hesitated, "I'm…I'm a psychokinetic. I can move stuff with my mind."

Shadow's eyes narrowed. "So you've been using special powers to cheat this whole time?"

"No that's just psychic. I can't do that." Silver's attempt to differentiate did little to convince his accuser. With a swipe of the arm, Shadow sent several dominoes airborne, all of which Silver caught in his mind's net.

"Shadow!!" Maria exclaimed, though she was almost too fascinated with the suspended tiles to be upset. Shadow eyed them briefly before brusquely departing from the table and heading out of the room. "I'm sorry," she sighed to the remaining hedgehogs. "He gets kind of bratty sometimes…."

"Heh, we'll just add a hundred points to his score," Sonic decided, grinning as he marked the sheet accordingly. Silver carefully lowered the floating dominoes down to the table as Maria made her way to the door.

"I'm going to go talk to him," she stated, and stepped out. After the door shut behind her, Silver spoke his mind.

"Guess the game's over…."

"Heh, yeah. I'll go ahead and count what we've got."

"…Shadow's pretty different here, isn't he?"

"I know! It's weirding me out!" Sonic could only laugh some more. "If nothing else I'm gettin' some excellent ammo!" Even Silver had to chuckle at that.

After a minute Maria returned with Shadow close behind. "We're back," she said sweetly, giving Shadow a gentle nudge. His eyes fixed on Silver for a moment before returning to the floor.

"………Sorry."

Silver turned his hands up. "No big deal." Sonic rubbed his bottom lip, having been made sore from all the times he'd had to bite it.

It was going to be an interesting week.


	4. Second Thoughts

Chapter 4 – Second Thoughts

A weary smirk lingered on Sonic's face as he and Silver stepped into the plaza sector the following morning.

"Hm," he breathed, scanning the crowd, "good thing we decided to come early."

Silver glanced about the massive room in search of a clock. "What time is it now?" He turned to Sonic as he lifted his customized watch to eye level.

"Eleven fifty seven."

"You call that early?"

"Hey, I told you," Sonic reminded him through his chuckle, "all I need is a moment—but since I'm dragging your dead weight around it doesn't hurt to have a couple more." He strolled forward, mindless of the snout-scrunched glare his jab evoked. "C'mon, let's hurry up and find 'em so we can eat!"

The hedgehogs headed to a large support beam in the center of the plaza, the designated meeting spot they'd arranged with Maria the night before. Spanning several feet on each side, though, it didn't make spotting their new friend as easy as they'd expected. Sonic paced circles around it while Silver stood skimming the various flyers tacked to its corkboard surface. After a few minutes, Sonic reached around the corner and tapped Silver's arm with the back of his hand. "Found her." He quickly disappeared back behind it, prompting Silver to hurry after.

On the other side of the beam, Maria approached and greeted them with a sunny smile. "Hey, guys! I brought Shadow along; hope you don't mind." As she spoke, the ultimate life form peeked stoically from behind her, his arms crossed.

"Not at all," Sonic remarked with a trivial air, though he did reserve a bit of concern for occupying an increasingly significant portion of Shadow's memory. There didn't seem to be any real danger in it, at least. "So, what're we havin'?" He clapped and rubbed his hands together.

"Shadow's in the mood for pizza, right, Shadow?" She glanced at him over her shoulder to see his nod. "What do you guys think?" Sonic shrugged, but Silver tilted his head in reluctance.

"Umm, this is going to be brunch for us, actually…."

The blue hedgehog gestured to the nearby tables. "Well, why don't we go ahead and pick a place to sit, and we can all just go get whatever we're in the mood for?" Maria gave an approving nod.

"Okay!" Once they had selected their table, the four split up three ways, with Sonic hitting up the burger counter, Silver checking out the deli, and Maria and Shadow getting in line for pizza. They each returned over the course of the next several minutes with meals in hand. Shadow was the last to arrive, having made another stop on his way back to pick up something at the salad bar.

Opening her eyes after silent grace, Maria cracked an amused smile seeing Silver yawn and Sonic stretch in his seat. "You two just get up?" At their sheepish confirmation, she raised a concerned eyebrow. "Did you sleep okay?"

"Oh yeah," Sonic assured her through a mouthful of cheese fries. "We were just up late going over our…notes and stuff," he explained, waving his hands in small circles at the intentionally vague concept. Of course, he left out the part about their sneaking into the storage hold to sleep on sacks of potatoes for lack of real beds. "Now that we've had a chance to look around, I gotta say I'm pretty impressed with the technology in this place!" Even this far in the past, he'd found that the ARK still contained features more advanced than those found on Earth in his own time. "It's cool how the thermostat automatically adjusts based on how many people are in the room and the doors open in time even if you're comin' at 'em at a hundred miles per hour and you did not just put peanut butter on your pizza…." His train of thought had derailed upon watching Shadow smear the contents of a single serving tub of the creamy paste atop his pepperoni-adorned meal. Casual crimson eyes peered up at him.

"I like it," Shadow responded matter-of-factly.

Silver looked up from his blueberry tart. "I saw a lot of unusual pizza toppings in Italy, but I've never seen that." Just as Shadow lifted the piece to his mouth, Sonic grabbed it and helped himself to a bite before he could snatch it back. Maria laughed so hard she had to cover her mouth with a napkin to keep from spewing half-chewed food across the table, and then all eyes were on Sonic as he smacked on his sample. Pretty soon he was sporting an anguished face. His eyes crossed as he swallowed, and he promptly followed up with a couple of chugs of apple juice. Maria's mouth was now entirely covered by her hand as she continued to giggle, leaning over into Shadow's shoulder.

"…I guess it's an ultimate life form thing," Sonic croaked following the ordeal.

With lunch out of the way, the group was ready for its true objective of the afternoon—to pay a visit to the wildlife vivarium. Though maintained by and for the purposes of the research facility, it was open to all occupants of the ARK during business hours. Maria had mentioned it the previous evening, and it was certainly nothing to which the hedgehogs were opposed; the more they could learn about the colony, the better.

Sonic was literally bouncing off the walls on the way there, letting his feet touch each side for only a moment before leaping to the other in a cross between playing and showing off. He finished the routine by rolling up and launching himself in a homing attack at Silver. "Hey, Silver, think fast!!" Immediately the targeted hedgehog fanned a hand, and his body was enveloped in the frosty blue aura as he brought the Blue Blur to a sudden, green-hued halt, allowing him to only continue spinning at a surrealistically slow pace. He then drew his hand back and thrust it a bit forward again, sending Sonic down the length of the corridor like a pinball. Having pulled his psychokinetic punch, though, he'd only delivered enough force to fire his friend to the far end rather than flatten him against it. Sonic fell just short of the passageway's bend and performed a spin dash upon hitting the floor, rocketing himself back to the others' feet.

Shadow blinked at the display with deep interest. "…How did you throw yourself at him from mid-air like that?" The question was met with a surprised pause from Sonic as he got to his feet. The homing attack had been the simplest move he'd done.

"You don't know how to do a homing attack??"

Shadow shook his head. "It's entirely new to me. I want to learn how it's done." It occurred to Sonic at that moment that Shadow's human upbringing was lacking in Mobian basics.

"Heh…okay," he agreed, eyeing his pupil with a sympathetic smirk. "Well, first things first…how's your quill control? Do you feel a good, strong hold at the roots when you bristle 'em?" He watched as Shadow clenched his fists and a wave of upward motion rippled through the red-streaked spines on his head and back.

"I think so…."

Sonic continued to stare, rubbing his chin, then walked over and cupped his hand under Shadow's primary quill. "Concentrate on this one…tighten and hold it." The black hedgehog complied, and his teacher nodded and gave it an upward push. "Feel it at the bottom?" After a fleeting glance aside, Shadow's eyes widened in realization.

"Yes, I do!"

"Okay, now apply that with a surge of force opposite to the direction you want to go."

The quill was released with its owner's eager nod. "Understood!" Shadow took a few steps forward and leaped up, rolling himself tightly in his ascent. At peak height, he set his quills into motion as he'd been taught, sending his body hurdling forth. The execution was crooked and a bit sloppy but definitely on the right track. Sonic grinned widely at the successful lesson.

"Not bad! Heh, you're a natural!"

"Great job, Shadow!!" Maria joined in, her clapping being echoed throughout the corridor. After a few moments, Shadow jumped up from where he'd landed and attempted it again, this time aiming to strike the far wall. Just as he launched, however, a young boy rounded the corner. The hedgehog sphere whizzed over the youth's head by mere millimeters before slamming with unsettling force into the metal bulkhead behind him, and the collective gasp resounding from one end of the hall was soon offset by a cry of terror from the other. Diving to the floor, the human covered his head with both arms.

"…_Shit_ that was close!!" Sonic stammered once he'd caught his breath. Silver heaved a sigh of relief but kept a hand over his chest. Maria brushed past them and hurried over to the boy, whom she recognized.

"Toby!! Are you okay?" She knelt beside him and touched her hand to his back. "Are you hurt? Let me see your face!" Though sobbing, Toby slowly lifted his head, and she checked him over. Shadow meanwhile pushed himself to his feet and stepped with a slight daze to just behind the boy. The other two hedgehogs soon joined them. Maria noted, "You seem to be okay…he just grazed you if anything…."

With a half wave, Sonic addressed Toby in a mild voice. "Hey there…sorry about scarin' ya. I was just teachin' this guy here a new trick." The child's eyes followed his gesture to the red and black form standing over him, and he screamed again.

"_Get away!!_"

As he cowered back under the cover of his arms, Maria let out an exasperated sigh. "Toby, I told you, he's not a monster!"

"He's tryin' to kill me!!" the boy wailed.

'No he's not! It was an accident! We didn't even know you were there!" Finding him unresponsive, she pulled him up and into her gentle arms. "Don't be scared, okay? Shadow's really nice. You'd like him if you just got to know him!" She wiped the tears from his left cheek with a single stroke of her fingers, then the right. "Would you like to come to the wildlife center with us? We're on our way there right now." She knew he loved the place, so if anything would put him in a better mood, it would. Aside some sniffles, Toby was quiet a little while before answering.

"………Yeah."

Maria broke into a relieved smile. "Okay, come on, get up." She helped him to his feet, after which he clung to her hand tightly as he stared frowning at Shadow, who merely stared back.

Though the mood was notably heavier than before, everyone had come to civil terms and the time travelers had been properly introduced by the time the group reached the vivarium. As it turned out, Toby was the son of Dr. Curoe, which to Sonic explained a lot when it came to Maria's concern and Toby's mentality towards Shadow.

As they trailed inside, Silver was the first to speak, his brow arched in awe. "Oh wow…."

"Snnnazzy!" Sonic dragged the word out. "I was expectin' a little petting zoo, but this place is incredible!" He crossed his arms behind his head and turned in tipsy circles to take in the scene behind the thick glass on each side.

"Let's go to the bug room!" Toby demanded, trying to pull Maria along with him, but she resisted.

"Wait, Toby. Sonic and Silver haven't been here before. Let's let them look around."

After a brief glance in the groaning boy's direction, Sonic returned his gaze to the creatures roaming their extensive artificial habitat, but his thoughts remained behind. Observing Toby reminded him a bit of his own daughter, who couldn't have been more than two or three years younger than him. But unlike this brat, she had a sweet, lovable, angelic side to her—at least in her father's eyes. He smiled to himself thinking of her.

The winding trail sandwiched between the observation panels eventually led the group into a large gift shop that acted as a hub, connecting the sector from which they'd just come to the avian, arthropod, and marine ones, as well as men's and women's restrooms. Shadow endlessly drank from the lower of two wall-mounted fountains while Toby dove his grubby mitts into a bin of small toys and Maria went on a quick bathroom break. Sonic and Silver browsed the shelves of unusual souvenirs.

"Hey, Sonic, didn't Maria have one of these in her room?" Silver asked, picking up a glass ball containing what appeared to be some water and a spidery tangle of twigs. It was about twice the size of a softball and nestled nicely in his hand as he lifted it to his squinted eyes.

"Oh yeah, I saw that," Sonic recalled, and retrieved another from the shelf. "What is it?"

The elderly clerk leaned his elbows into the counter facing them as he answered the question. "That there is an ecosphere. It's a self-contained and self-sustaining ecosystem."

Silver continued to gaze into the orb. "I think I see something swimming in here!"

"Those would be shrimp," the old man identified with a nod.

Sonic flashed a fascinated grin. "Huh! So this is kind of like an aquarium?"

"Somewhat, only everything in there feeds on something else in there, so you never need to feed 'em yourself. All it needs is a little light."

"What's the tree limb do, or is it just for decoration?" Silver prodded.

"That's coral, and it plays a role too."

"Hm!" Sonic tore his attention away from the globe to look at the clerk. "How much are these?"

He cleared his throat before answering. "Those are two hundred and thirty-five dollars a piece." At the figure, Silver's eyes snapped up, conveying a different brand of amazement as Sonic glanced back at him. Their spheres were carefully returned to the shelf.

By this time Maria had returned from the restroom and joined Toby at the bins of novelty trinkets. Shadow had wandered over to the book rack and was thumbing through a hardback entitled The American Past. While Sonic got a better look at the tiny pots of carnivorous plants, Silver made his way over to the shelves harboring an assortment of dinosaur products. One item in particular caught his eye.

"Uhh," his voice carried an uncertain edge as he approached Sonic with a pewter sculpture labeled "Brontosaurus" in hand, inquiring, "isn't this a false species?"

"Yeah, pretty much" Sonic confirmed, cracking a smirk, "but most people won't know that for another forty or fifty years. I heard it even had the wrong head for a while."

Silver's eyelids fluttered. "W-wait, what??"

"I heard it had the wrong-"

"No, no, before that!"

Sonic glanced aside as he paused in recollection. "…Most people won't know that for forty or fifty years…?" He quirked a confused eyebrow at his friend, whose demeanor had taken on a sudden urgency. The quill-crowned hedgehog leaned in and lowered his voice.

"What did you mean by that?"

"I meant from this time that we're in now."

Golden eyes held fast to green. "How many years have we gone back?"

"'Bout sixty." Sonic went on at his friend's gape, "You didn't know that?"

"No I didn't know that!!" Silver rattled back, but before he could he could say more another customer meandered near them, prompting their shuffle to a more private spot. He resumed freaking out in the corner. "I thought we were within the last ten years of your time!"

Sonic shrugged. "Does it matter?"

"Well, it makes me wonder how many other things I don't know about! This could…we could be…." he trailed off, his eyes fearful.

"Hey, guys," Maria called from across the shop, "Toby wants to go to the bug room next if that's okay with you."

"Uh, yeah, fine with me," Sonic answered. Silver forced a meek smile as he nodded agreement.

"Okay. You ready to go yet?" She looked from them to Shadow, whose eyes lifted from the book in his hand. Sonic turned back to Silver with a haphazard simper.

"C'mon…we'll talk more later." After granting a couple of quick pats on the back, he headed for the entrance to the arthropod sector. "All right, bring on the bugs!" Gently clapping his book shut, Shadow placed it back on the rack and followed their lead out the door. Silver sighed as he reluctantly brought up the rear.

Rather than a single simulated habitat enclosure, this sector housed a multitude of smaller vivaria bearing the names and illustrations of the insects within. To his surprise, Sonic found that their lids were only secured with simple latches; as far as he was concerned, it was an invitation to pop the top. It consequently wasn't long before he had a stag beetle crawling down his arm. "H-hey! Take it easy with the barbs!" he urged the bug, chuckling.

Maria looked a bit apprehensive. "Umm…I don't think we're supposed to take them out of their cages…." The blue hedgehog winked at her.

"Aww, he's not hurtin' anybody. –_Yeow!!_ Except when he does that!" The beetle was quickly pried from his forearm and returned to its tank. Sonic then helped himself to another enclosure.

"Hey, Maria, look at this one!" Toby beckoned, pointing to a marbled praying mantis perched on a fake limb near the top of its cell. Its watchful eyes were steadfast on a cricket that had been deposited for feeding purposes. "It's gonna get it!"

While the humans watched the mantis, Shadow studied a bombardier beetle and Silver strained to see around a group of other people admiring a tank full of fireflies. Sonic approached the hedgehogs with a monstrous grasshopper sitting atop his open hand.

"Here's a biggun!"

Silver peered over his shoulder at it and grimaced. "I don't know why you like handling those things." He crossed his arms as Sonic snorted.

"Unlike _some_ people, I'm used to picking up stuff with my hands." His arm extended in Silver's direction. "Wanna hold him?"

"No thanks." The pale gray hedgehog leaned away.

"Psch! I'm gonna start callin' you PK Pansy!" He chuckled as Silver rolled his eyes and turned back to the fireflies. "Shadow's not scared of a little bug, right, Shadow?"

Annoyance filtered through Silver's voice in his defense, "I didn't say I was scared!" It only added to Sonic's gratification as he offered the insect to the other hedgehog. Shadow turned and eyed it quietly.

"Here," Sonic prodded, "take him. I'm pretty sure he doesn't bite." At first it didn't seem like Shadow was going to cooperate either, but after a few moments he slowly began to reach for the bug. As his hand neared it, the grasshopper suddenly sprang forth, landing right on his face. Everyone within earshot jumped as an intense cry rang out through the room. Sonic froze in the initial shock, but watching the normally fearless hedgehog flail like part of a bad breakdancing routine quickly displaced any concern. Hugging his stomach, he sank to the floor laughing as his knees lost strength. Maria stood with her hands cupped over her mouth, and Toby wore a blank gape. Silver gritted his teeth, knowing this couldn't end well.

He was right.

Shadow slung the offending creature off himself and, just as it struck the side of a nearby tank, he followed up with a full-force punch. The impact shattered the glass, which poured in fragments to the floor with a shrill clatter. A couple of rhinoceros cockroaches scurried out soon after. Sonic looked up from where he lay, grimacing. His eyes traveled to the glass-riddled remnants of the grasshopper.

"…Cool! Orange guts!"

Needless to say, the visit to the wildlife center was cut short, and the inevitable discovery by Dr. Curoe of what had happened came all too soon thereafter, thanks to Toby. Through the window of a closed office adjoining the main lab, the red-faced man could be seen loudly berating Shadow, who sat rubbing his bandaged hand.

In a break room across the way, Sonic, Maria, and Silver stood indirectly watching from the door. Though they could hear Curoe's angry voice through the wall, none of them could make out what he was saying. Sonic leaned back with a groaning sigh.

"Man, that guy needs a straightjacket…." He noted Maria's wide-eyed glance and guessed it was because of the woman pouring coffee for herself behind them. He didn't care; being a member of the research team, she'd surely heard such things before.

After a brief silence, the lady commented as she poured sugar into her cup, "He seems harsh, but he really does mean well. He just doesn't want to see any of our projects get jeopardized." The hedgehogs remained silent as her spoon softly clinked against the inside of her cup. Nothing else was said until after she'd left the room, at which point Maria leaned in and whispered a key piece of information.

"That was Dr. Curoe's wife!"

Sonic broke into a sheepish chuckle. "Boy, I'm just hittin' all the marks today!" Hearing the office door open, he turned to see Shadow emerge, obviously vexed, with Curoe still shouting behind him.

"From now on until Gerald gets back, you're to stay in the research facility during working hours!" he dictated. His scowl deepened as Shadow merely continued walking toward the back door that led to his room. "Is that understood?!"

The dark hedgehog's tone was sharp, matching his glare as he pivoted about. "_Yes_, Doctor." He then continued on his way. Curoe sighed heavily and strode into the break room past his small audience. Using a handkerchief pulled from his lab coat's breast pocket, he proceeded to remove and wipe the sweat from his glasses.

"I apologize," his voice came out much calmer but still tense. "He's not normally like this. I hope he hasn't been too much of a problem for you two."

"Not at all," Sonic asserted, then paused. "Uhh…try not to be too hard on him. I was the one who took the grasshopper out, so that whole deal was my fault…."

"It's not really a matter of who's to blame," Curoe explained, replacing his glasses. "It's just…he doesn't seem to consider how much is at stake. I'm sure you know as well as I do that there are people who are looking for any excuse to shut this place down, and yet he goes out and draws attention to himself like it's a big joke. That goes for you too," his words were then directed at Maria. "We allow him to interact with you and Toby to provide him with enriched development, but if it's going to be a problem we'll put an end to it. You need to remember that he is a project, not a playmate." Maria turned her eyes down and nodded quietly, after which he went on, "Go back to your room and do your homework. These two don't need you tagging along with them all day."

Sonic started to say something but thought better of it. He waited until Curoe had left, then genially urged the sulking girl, "Hey…smile! Don't get yourself down over that; that guy's just got his lab coat on too tight!" The edge of her lips curled up a bit at the joke, but it did nothing for Silver, who was now all the more distraught.

At the close of the research center's business hours, Shadow was allowed out, and the evening was spent in Maria's room. Sonic and Silver were there as well, doing their best to lighten the somber mood. The two told jokes and stories and even got in a round of singing. Maria and Shadow sat watching from her bed, the latter folding his ears while Sonic belted out a fitting stanza. "Maria Mariaaaaaaaaaaaa, she reminds me of a west side storyyyy!"

Seated near Sonic on the floor, Silver's ears were flat at well, pressed under the cover of his hands. "She asked you to _tell_ her about Earth music, not torture her with it!" The verse came to an abrupt end.

"Hah! Jealousy!!" He cackled and dodged a psychokinetic projectile, which landed in Shadow's lap. Shadow picked up the beaded bracelet and tossed it at Silver like a frisbee, successfully enwreathing his crown's central quill. Maria's and Sonic's subsequent laughter filled the room.

Later the topics of discussion turned more serious. "Seven?" Shadow echoed the figure Sonic had just specified. The blue hedgehog nodded.

"Seven in all. They're capable of amazing things when they're all together! You could warp…this entire colony to another location!" Sonic smirked a bit, recalling a time when they'd done just that.

The fixed crimson eyes grew wide with realization. "Of course…why didn't I think of it before?" A pensive glance was cast at Maria as new ideas brewed. The girl took no notice, however, her mind being too occupied with concepts of its own. She spoke up amidst a lull in the conversation.

"…I'm really glad you guys came here. I love getting to talk like this and hear new things about Earth, and Shadow has other hedgehogs to talk to!"

Sonic flashed a smile at her, free for once of the cocky contour. "It's been a pleasure." Silver nodded convincingly but remained silent.

Shadow leaned back, serene and thoughtful. "I thought you were annoying when I first met you," he admitted, glancing at Sonic, "…actually I still do..." Several moments after the others' subtle laughs, he continued, "…But I'm glad you came too." Sonic blinked at him, speechless this time. The words were more or less the same as Maria's, but coming from him, they meant a world more. Finding no words to return, he could only nod his appreciation.

As the evening wore on, Maria finally got around to tackling her algebra homework, with more comical than helpful assistance from three hedgehogs. Afterward they all wound down; Shadow and Maria read books while Sonic drew pictures, and Silver gazed forever entranced into the ecosphere on the dresser. It wasn't until the sound of a book tumbling to the floor startled the two time travelers that they realized the occupants of the bed had fallen asleep. Maria lay on her side with Shadow backed against her, a pillow between them shielding her from his quills. His face was leaned like a child's into her bosom, and his hands lay before him in failing grasp of his open book. Sonic gestured with a nod to the door, and the two quietly slipped out of the room.

"So," Sonic began as they made their way down the corridor to an uncertain destination, "what was the problem you were wantin' to talk about earlier?"

Silver snorted and cracked a smile as he looked over at his friend. "…Nevermind."


	5. Chaos Control

Chapter 5 – Chaos Control

Feeling the gentle touch of a hand on her shoulder, Maria opened her sleepy eyes and beheld Shadow's staring back into them. He crouched beside the bed where she'd lain since the previous night when they'd dozed off in each other's company. Though such nights weren't an uncommon occurrence, his waking her at 6:30 in the morning was.

"Get up," he coaxed, his breath sweet like candied fruit. "I want to show you something." Maria groaned a bit as she pushed herself upright but quickly snapped alert when she noted the glowing green display of the clock on her dresser.

"Aren't you supposed to be in the research center??" Her nervous eyes returned to his, which retreated in an elusive shift. He stood and turned away but didn't deny her an answer.

"They're in a meeting."

"But…you don't want to not be there when they get out…."

"They won't be out for a while," Shadow assured her, twisting around. "They're meeting with the commander of GUN."

The very man Shadow spoke of stood tall and grim at the head of the conference room in which the entire research team had mustered. His greased back ebony hair with graying sideburns and chiseled stone face lent a powerful edge to an already imposing presence.

His voice carried well to the seated crowd, "As most of you know, my name is Commander Strauf, and I am in charge of the Guardian Unit of Nations, the military task force that oversees the operations within this facility. There are a few things I want to go over, both as a review for those familiar and to inform those of you who may have just joined this group." He paced a bit, sporadically tapping the rim of his hat into his open palm. "Our first contact with the Mobian race was approximately fifteen years ago, when a portal opened between our world and planet Mobius at a location within the United States known as Groom Lake. Today that location is known as Area 51 and is one of the most heavily guarded institutions on Earth. This colony, which was built by the Mobians, is likewise a heavily guarded secret. No one but a select handful of people on Earth has ever heard of a Mobian or the Space Colony ARK, and it is the duty of GUN to keep it that way, which is why travel and communications to and from the colony are highly restricted. That being said, it has come to my attention that this facility is currently experiencing a _failure_ to keep its biological projects under control." Several members of the research team exchanged glances as he continued, "Any threat to the colony is a threat to its classified status, and thus a threat to the people of planet Earth. I was called in from two weeks' leave in the Bahamas to come here and investigate the security of your operations, so I'd better damn well like what I see."

Tense silence followed the words as Strauf took his seat. Drawing a shaky breath, Dr. Curoe lifted his brow from the hand supporting it and ran his fingers through his dirty blond locks. He swallowed the growing lump in his throat before rising to his feet and taking the floor.

It was about that moment that Shadow's ears began to itch, but he paid them little mind as he led Maria into the less-traveled confines of the research center. Facing a special security door, he slid a keycard out from under the tongue of his right skate and swiped it through the reader. The girl's eyes bulged wide.

"Is that Dr. Gibben's card??" she asked, recognizing the embedded photo. Shadow flipped it over for a look.

"Hm. Yeah."

"Shadow!! You stole it?!"

"No…he lost it, and I found it." It was all he would say of the acquisition, and she was afraid to press for more. Her heart began to pound as they stepped into what was supposed to be an inaccessible room for them. Inside they met the stench of rubber; there were neatly organized rows of large equipment and several labeled drawers of spare parts. With a dutiful calm, Shadow approached the safe in the corner and knelt as he pressed his ear against its door and began to turn the dial. Combination locks were useless against Mobians, who could easily hear the internal tumblers disengage. He had the door open in under a minute and carefully retrieved the treasure within—a yellow Chaos Emerald. It was this same emerald with which he had been trained to manipulate Chaos energy, and now it was time to put those lessons to a real test. "All right," he prompted, securing the safe door, "take my hand." He extended his free one to her, and though hesitant, her grip was soon in his. The sunny gem was held aloft. "Chaos…Control!"

Maria blinked with a nervous lack of recognition once they arrived at their destination. "…Where are we…?" Being her first, the warp had seemed timeless and yet grueling, and with everything distorting around her, she'd had to close her eyes to keep from getting dizzy. Before her now was a shrine-like receptacle that harbored six more emeralds just like the one Shadow held, only each was a different color. They all gleamed brilliantly, as did his in reaction to the others' presence. "What-" the question shriveled in her frozen jaw at the guttural thunder of a monster's growl from behind. Shadow merely glared over his shoulder, but it took all her courage just to turn around. Down the steps and a little ways from the emerald shrine was a horrifying sight: a lizard nearly the size of a car with a contraption almost just as large strapped to its back. Beneath it was a pool of water that flowed swiftly outward via shallow trenches built into the floor, both sustaining the beast and removing its waste. Large tubes running from the device it wore led to both sides of its mouth, which opened wide in a vicious roar. Maria took two steps back, her hands cupped over her terror-stricken face.

"Don't be afraid," Shadow's tone bore a reassuring confidence. "It's restrained."

She fought for her breath. "Is…that the…biolizard?!" It had been months since she'd last seen it, back when it was still kept in the research center and was barely larger than a football.

"Yeah." Shadow had worked with it often before it was moved to this chamber, and a few times thereafter, but he'd only been brought to this particular location once before, by Gerald. As he stood beholding it now, intelligent reptilian eyes burned into him. It seemed the mutual animosity had not waned one bit. The sneer faded from his snout as he turned back to the emeralds. "…Are you ready?"

"Ready for what?" Maria spun about. A smile actually crept over Shadow's face before he answered her.

"We're going to Earth." Perceiving the questions in her dumbfounded gape, he held up the emerald in his hand. "I never realized that their power could be combined. With one emerald, I _might_ have been able to warp myself there, but with all of them, there's no doubt we can both go."

"Wh…you mean right now?" She paused in breathless consideration upon receiving his nod. "Will we-" the words reduced to a wince as the giant lizard bellowed again. "…Will we be able to come back…?" She looked to Shadow, trembling. His gaze shifted to the circle of shining gems.

"I don't know. If I use them this way, they may be left behind…." He lowered his head, but his black cherry eyes lifted to hers again. "I understand if you don't want to."

The young girl's lips sank into a distraught frown. "What do _you_ want to do?"

"I want whatever makes you happy."

For a few moments, the only sound was of her shallow breaths. Her eyes seemed to search the emeralds for the answer she should give. When she looked to him once more, it was clear that she'd found it.

"Okay…let's go!" Though terribly anxious, she found herself breaking into an exhilarated grin. Shadow granted another nod, then stepped over into the midst of the emeralds. The one in his hands was plunged upon the empty central pedestal, and immediately an intense surge of Chaos energy entered his body. Rocked back on his heels, Shadow gritted his teeth and countered the phenomenal rush with his own power, attempting in his inexperience to balance the energy. The emeralds' supply then seemed to take on a life of its own, reacting to his efforts with a sudden retreat that resulted in his resident aura's being forced out into them. There was a blinding flash, quickly followed by the biolizard's most intense cry yet, enough to send the emeralds into an audible vibration—just before they rocketed apart. Casting themselves in seven different directions, the gems pierced the surrounding ceiling and walls like wet tissues. One of them seared a path right through the colony's power grid, effectively destroying the ARK's primary source of electricity.

Dr. Curoe was in the process of detailing the purposes of and progress on the team's key projects when the conference room, along with the rest of the colony, was plunged into darkness. Gasps and murmurs emanated from the research staff, and Curoe cleared his throat, suddenly finding himself all the more warm under the collar.

"…And this is the first time this has ever happened…." he announced in a deliberately squeaky voice. Several faceless laughs erupted, but he had a feeling Commander Strauf's was not one of them.

Shadow and Maria had been forced to the floor by the Chaos shockwave. No sooner than they'd opened their eyes did they find themselves blinded again, only this time by the absence of light. Shadow quickly scrambled to his feet despite being somewhat winded.

"Maria! Are you okay?"

Her frightened voice filtered through the blackness, "Yeah…! What happened??"

There was a brief silence. "…I don't know…." Feeling his way out of the now barren emerald shrine, he followed her scent back to her side. She tightly clutched his arm with one hand and a quill with the other as he helped her to her feet. "We need to-" He grimaced mid-sentence against another ear-rending roar, but this time it was accompanied by an additional sound—the much more unsettling fracture of restraints that no longer had their electrical reinforcement. Cursing under his heavy breaths, Shadow held fast to Maria's wrist and fled with her down the opposite end of the Chaos shrine, his outstretched hand their only guide. It wasn't long before heavy but rapid footfalls were after them. Soon the pair reached the far wall, but there were no doors to be found along it. Maria screamed as her hair flew back from a rush of hot lizard breath. Yanking her to the floor, Shadow lunged himself in a blind homing attack at the beast. His skates struck the bridle of pipes along its face, illuminating the room for a split second with a pink burst of Chaos-mingled sparks. The creature stumbled back from the blow, giving Shadow just enough time to grab Maria and sprint past. They navigated through the shrine once more and were heading across the floor toward the other wall when one of Shadow's steps unexpectedly came down to absent footing. The terrified girl was pulled behind him into a pool of lukewarm water—the lizard's spring. In the commotion, he'd forgotten all about it. Such a fall would have been extremely hazardous due to the strength of the current flowing out, but the loss of power had caused the pumps to fail as well. Gasping a breath, Shadow pulled Maria into his arms and leaped out. A loud splash behind them warned that their pursuer was catching up. He continued to carry her the rest of the way, and though it wasn't possible to skate, he activated the propulsion mechanism every so often to allow him to see. Finally they reached the door, which, mercifully, was one of the things powered by the emergency generators. Shadow dashed out as it slid up, squeezing his eyes shut as he suddenly found them flooded with light. Maria covered hers as well; after coming from that room, even the backup lamps seemed intense. The lizard attempted to charge out after them, but its bulk proved too much. Only its hideous head protruded into the corridor, wrenching and snarling. Shadow squinted it at as he set Maria down safely out of reach. "You okay?" he asked again, to her timid nod. He then turned to the monster, and with another, well placed homing attack, forced it back into the room. The door slid shut behind him as he stepped out, dusting his hands.

Maria placed a shaking hand over her heart, attempting to calm it. "That was so close!!" A million questions were running through her mind as to what had just happened, but for the time being she was much too rattled to ask.

"Let's go," Shadow prompted, leading the way to the nearest exit. This door, however, was locked with a security mechanism that was not receiving the emergency power. His hands slid down its metal surface. While they were no longer in immediate danger, he was sure she didn't want to spend another minute here. He certainly didn't. "…Stand back." Maria jogged several feet away while he closed his eyes and focused his pent-up energy. With a deep breath, he took a step forward and thrust his hands toward the door, unleashing a powerful Chaos Spear. The impact launched the door completely out of its frame and several feet down the adjoining corridor. Standing in stunned silence at the far end of the hall were several members of the research team—among them, Dr. Curoe and Commander Strauf.

The hours that followed were not pleasant for anyone. Back in the conference room, Curoe sat with his face in his hands, long since having cast his glasses on the table. Following the electricity's restoration there'd been nothing more to delay the inevitable wrath of Strauf over Project: Shadow, through which the researchers now suffered.

Strauf stood reading aloud from a sheet held in front of him, "Chaos reception, minimal. Chaos manipulation, minimal. Resident Chaos, negligible." He whipped the sheet down. "If that's your definition of 'minimal,' I'd sure like to know what the hell else you've been doing here."

"It was my fault, sir," Dr. Evans spoke up. "I failed to update the records to reflect our recent findings."

"…He's only a preliminary test specimen, " Curoe added, lifting his head. "We never intended a, a significant analysis." He kept his eyes down lest the officer see right through his lies.

"Oh, I see," Strauf responded a little too kindly, rubbing a thumb over the cleft in his chin. "Then it shouldn't be a problem to have the specimen destroyed." Curoe blinked a couple of times but otherwise retained his composure.

"Of course…eventually, when we've progressed to the final stages of the project-"

"_Today_," Strauf cut in. His eyes knifed the head researcher as he looked up.

After a few moments, Dr. Gibbens' voice quivered through the stifling silence, "Sir…we can't just…throw away research…." He swallowed hard watching the militant's already stony face crust even more rigid.

"You'll be lucky if this facility is even running a week from now."

"But there was no harm or threat to any persons," Curoe's wife joined in. "You can't force a shutdown over a broken door!"

"The shutdown will be the result of your failure to comply!"

"But what you're asking is unreasonable!"

Strauf's tone grew especially sharp. "You don't seem to be getting it through your bimbo brain that I'm _not asking_!!"

"Commander," Curoe huffed, rising from his chair, "if you're going to direct hostility toward my staff, I'm going to have to ask you to leave." Bitter eyes snapped up off the gaping woman beside him.

"…You haven't seen hostility," were Strauf's final words before storming from the room. Following his exit, several members of the group exhaled in relief, while others became more fretful. Across from Dr. Gibbens, Dr. Carlos sank back in his chair.

"May as well start packing now…."

Gibbens' worried glance fell on Curoe. "He can't really shut us down for this, can he?"

His wife answered, "Of course not. He can initiate a full blown investigation, maybe, but he can't just close an entire facility over something so minor…."

In the back, Dr. Terrance spoke up, "What about Shadow? Can they make us destroy him?"

Up until now, Curoe had stood silent, his aimless gaze distant. At that question, however, he slowly spoke.

"They won't have to." All eyes jumped to him as he went on, "Because I'M GOING TO DO IT MYSELF!!"

* * *

Shadow dragged a grueling sigh, leaning back on his hands as he sat on the cold floor of a Chaos energy test chamber. He'd been in here many times before for a variety of experiments, but today it was merely a prison. On the other side of a large window in the wall, Dr. Curoe stood in the chamber's tiny control room, barking at him through the intercom.

"Again and again I told you, but it's like you go out of your way to do this to me!! Thanks to this last stunt we're in danger of being completely shut down, and if we're not we might as well be because our funding is _gone_! I knew this was going to happen! I _knew_ it!!" His tight fisted, tooth-clenched rant was an almost artistic contrast to the hedgehog's silent, bored look. Catching his breath, Curoe went on, a trace calmer, "Apparently the only way to keep you out of trouble is to lock you up like a dumb animal since you can't follow simple instructions." Those words met a fleeting glare. "You want out, you best learn to do what's expected of you, and you can start by clipping the attitude!!"

A knock at the control room door brought an end to the lecture. It was one of few that opened manually, so Curoe strode over and twisted the handle. When he pulled it back, Maria was standing there, her hands in a timid clasp before her.

"May I see Shadow, please?" she requested, barely audible. Curoe stepped aside and held the door, allowing her in. She approached the window and sorrowfully gazed at her friend through it.

"The intercom's on so you can speak if you wish," Curoe informed her. She glanced back at him quickly, then faced the glass again.

"Shadow?" Her call immediately caught his attention. He got to his feet and moved to within a few feet of the glass, eyeing her intently but keeping his head down. "How are you? Are you doing okay?"

He nodded reply, and his mouth dropped open, waiting for words to come. "…I'm sorry…." The apology evoked a flinch from Curoe, who'd never received one himself.

Maria offered a mild smile. "It's okay."

"It is not okay!" the researcher snapped. "Do you have any idea how much trouble he's caused?! Our entire research center is washed up, ruined, and they'll probably call for the destruction of all our lives' work here—including him!!" He angrily fingered the hedgehog. "As far as I'm concerned, it'll serve him right!" His flaring temper receded a bit upon seeing the girl's widened eyes well with tears. "…He's not allowed to leave here until everything's straightened out."

Maria's sullen gaze ventured back to Shadow, who had turned away. After a lingering silence, her voice leaked out, "Shadow……are you hungry?"

His back remained to them. "Just thirsty…." Her pleading eyes returned to Curoe.

"May I get him something to drink?" Receiving his nod, she headed for the door, calling over her shoulder, "I'll be right back, Shadow!" Shortly thereafter she returned with a bottle of water. Beside the control panel was an exchange chute; Curoe pulled out its metal drawer, and Maria carefully deposited the glass container. With the press of a button, the drawer on the chamber's side was unlocked, allowing Shadow to retrieve his drink. Maria looked to Curoe again. "May I bring him a pillow?"

"No," he returned bluntly. "He's here to be taught a lesson. If he wants his old room back he's going to have to earn it. Why don't you run along, Maria? I'm sure you still have homework left to do." The pouting girl nodded and turned to leave after one last glance at her friend. Curoe then switched off the intercom and, following one more glare of his own, sighed and headed out himself.

* * *

Having woken up in the midst of the power outage, Sonic and Silver found themselves in the dark in both the literal and figurative senses. They asked around in the plaza for details, but no one seemed to know just what was going on. The only thing that seemed for certain was that there was no danger just yet. Nevertheless, they sought out Maria and, not finding her in her room, began to navigate the dimly lit corridors toward the research facility.

Only the echoes of their footsteps filled sector 373G as the two hedgehogs passed through. Sonic had been making various comments along the way, but all had been met with unusually short answers. Finally he cocked an eyebrow at Silver.

"Uhh…I don't mean to be all up in your Kool-Aid, but s'there something on your mind?"

His friend stared straight ahead. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, usually when I bring up psychokinesis you're all over it, but you hardly said a word. I'm startin' to feel like I'm talkin' to Shadow!"

"Heh…" his tone remained somewhat distant, "I was just wondering about something…."

"Anything I can help with?" A long silence followed the question, until Sonic finally chuckled. "Guess not."

"It's just…" Silver at last began, "well…you know how some people say that the world was created by a loving God and all, but, if that's the case, why does He let nice people like Maria die?"

The edge of Sonic's mouth twitched a bit; he hadn't expected something so loaded. He resisted his initial impulse to blurt out "you think too much" and tried to recall a conversation he'd once had with Chris Thorndyke on just that topic. How had Chris put it?

"…I think it was the humans themselves who made it this way. I mean, in the Earth doctrine it says that the world didn't have any death at first, but when the first man and woman disobeyed the High One, or, uh, Lord, the world got all messed up, and all the bad things like death and disease followed. So really, if it were the way He intended, no one would be dying…it's just something we have to suffer through 'til He fixes it."

"And when will that be?"

Sonic shrugged. "Whenever He's ready. But He waits to give people more chances to repent. See, He lets us do what we want, but every deed has its consequences. When people like Maria die, it usually comes down to the same exact thing; people do bad things and end up hurting themselves and other people. Sometimes it's direct, like a gunshot, and sometimes it's something like…screwing around and helping spread AIDS, which eventually gets passed on to some poor kid who gets cut by her dentist. If people just did the right thing, most of the suffering in the world wouldn't even exist."

"Hmm…."

"But what's cool is that He still helps us out sometimes by using those bad situations to achieve good things!"

Silver blinked in consideration. "…You don't suppose Maria's de-" He froze seeing the girl walk into view from around the corner.

Sonic didn't miss a beat. "Hey, kiddo, we've been lookin' for you!" His smile faded and head tilted upon noticing her wet, puffy eyes. "What's wrong?" Both hedgehogs listened intently as she explained what happened in the Chaos chamber to the best of her understanding, along with Curoe's reaction. "Wow…I didn't know there were even Chaos Emeralds on board…."

"The researchers followed you two down there?" Silver inquired, looking especially concerned.

Maria shook her head. "No…they were taking the GUN commander on a tour since the lights went out in the meeting room." Both pairs of eyes widened at that.

"So," Sonic began, pausing briefly to clear his throat, "the guy in charge of GUN is involved, and I take it he's not too happy…."

"Dr. Curoe said that he's going to shut down the whole research center and…." she trailed off, her young face beginning to fault.

Silver mildly finished for her, "…Do away with Shadow?" Tears streamed down her cheeks as she nodded reply. Before she could wipe them, Sonic took her hands into his.

"Hey…we're not gonna let anything happen to either of you. We promise. Just do me one favor, 'kay?"

She sniffed. "What?"

"Cheer up! Everyone's okay right now, and that's the important thing, right? We'll do everything we can to make sure it stays that way, so don't worry. Just keep wearing that pretty smile!"

Maria's lips turned upwards a bit at the words. She deeply hoped they really could keep her best friend from being destroyed. "…Thanks…."

The hedgehogs walked the girl to her room and remained there with her for a while, making an effort to raise her spirits. When they left, Silver cradled a special gift in his hands—the ecosphere.

Sonic chuckled and shook his head on their way back to the plaza. "I can't believe you took that thing!"

"What? She gave it to me!"

"She offered it because she saw how obsessed you were with it, but that didn't mean you had to accept!"

Silver's cheeks flushed a bit. "Well…I'll take good care of it!" His demeanor changed as his thoughts trailed elsewhere. "Hey, Sonic…that incident with the Chaos chamber…you think that was supposed to happen? I mean, you were the one who told Shadow about the emeralds…."

Sonic drew a breath. "Whatever the case, we'll just have to make sure things work out." Silver looked up from his sphere and returned a nod.

The next three days were relatively quiet. Shadow remained confined to the chamber, allowed out only to use the restroom. Maria and the hedgehogs visited frequently and offered whatever amenities Curoe would allow, which were few. The time the three didn't spend there was increasingly spent in each other's company all the same, the guardians making a point of keeping her near as the dreaded event approached.

The morning of the sixth day began with business as usual. Curoe was reviewing a stack of paperwork alongside several members of his staff when Commander Strauf entered the facility and marched up to him with an armed soldier on each side. The lead researcher gaped from his seat as the officer imposed a clear directive.

"Take me to the location of Project: Shadow."


	6. The Invasion

Chapter 6 – The Invasion

"What is this?"

Tense eyes searched the faces of the unexpected guests, finding in their motionless contours only a cold echo of the commander's uncompromising order. Carlos eased his hand down from his wafer moustache as he slowly leaned to Curoe's ear.

"I think you'd better do what he says…."

The head researcher hesitated only a moment longer before rising with guarded due from his chair. Nothing more was said; his stomach threatened to fold in on itself as he began to lead the soldiers from the room. Standing in one of the open office doors, his young son gawked at the fully automatic weapons slung over the escorts' shoulders. His wife stepped up behind the boy, a hand to her lips and eyes wide.

"Patricia," Curoe struggled to maintain his voice, "take Toby to his room and stay there with him." She quickly nodded as he continued to the lab's main entrance. In the corridor just outside, several more soldiers stood waiting. Curoe forced a dizzied swallow as he found himself at the head of a solemn parade.

Just minutes before, Sonic and Silver were camped out in a corner of the colony's main plaza. They'd been taking turns resting while the other kept watch, as neither knew the exact hour the raid was to transpire. Sitting beside his napping accomplice, Silver rocked himself from tail to toes in growing boredom while watching the endless crowds churn past. His right ear flicked at the constant tickle of leaves stemming from an overhanging branch of the potted dogwood just behind them. He glanced down to admire the ecosphere at his side just in time to see it receive a jolt from Sonic's shifting foot.

"Hey!!" An energy circuit-trimmed boot kicked the blue hedgehog, who sat bolt upright.

"Are they here??"

"No, your clumsy butt just kicked my ecosphere! You're gonna hurt the shrimp!"

Sonic's ears twisted back, but his annoyance was even more apparent in his lofty tone. "…Man!" He grabbed the glass orb and hurled it with considerable force, to Silver's horror. A distinctive green aura enveloped the sphere just before it could hit the floor. After drawing his precious possession back to him, Silver used his power on Sonic, who had already lain back down. The startled hedgehog was lifted well over a foot before being slammed to the hard tiles.

"Now you know how it feels!" Silver snapped, only moments before finding an angry face in his.

"Do that again!!" Sonic dared through his teeth. Anyone watching might have seen an arc of electricity between their nearly touching noses in that moment, but neither was afforded a chance to act beyond it before a man's voice overcame the noise of the plaza through a megaphone.

"Everyone remain where you are! There has been a security breach within the colony, but we have everything under control. You are not in danger as long as you remain in this area." The speaker was none other than a GUN soldier, behind whom at least four dozen more marched through. Eyes wide, the hedgehogs quickly turned back to each other, their quarrel forgotten.

Curoe could hardly breathe as a key was slid into the brass handle of the door that opened into Chaos chamber's control room. The same two men as before accompanied him and the commander inside while the others remained in the corridor.

Within the chamber, Shadow lay curled up in the corner with his back to the window, half asleep. There was nothing else to do; he'd already counted the panels of lights and the rivets in the walls and the scuffs on the floor, and there were only so many moves to practice and so many times he could stand practicing them. Temptation was strong to break out, but he supposed to himself that he'd already done enough damage. His hand draped in front of him over an empty water bottle, his only company in the hours between visits. A tired sigh left him as some stupid tune he'd heard Sonic humming earlier in the week cycled through his head for the seventeenth time.

Commander Strauf eyed his target through the glass, then glanced to the doors at each end of the chamber. His voice was surprisingly mild as he turned to his subordinates.

"I want half the men at one door and half at the other," he instructed. The pair confirmed and departed, at which point Curoe tore his gaze from the hedgehog to face Strauf.

"This…really isn't necessary," he reasoned, his demeanor much humbled from how it had been in their last encounter. "I understand that you've incurred a great deal of expense from this incident and, and coming all the way out here, but we're prepared to compensate—twice as much…."

Strauf's brow lifted in mild amusement. "Dr. Curoe…are you trying to _bribe_ me?" the key word doubled as a laugh. There was a brief silence as the researcher blinked several times, offering no denial. He swallowed hard.

"This is Gerald's life's work………you can't just…destroy it…." His wording did little to hide the emotions his tone betrayed; Shadow truly was more to him than just a project.

"Sir," a voice called through the commander's two-way radio, "we're at the first door and the others are en route."

Strauf lifted the radio to his granite lips. "Is the door locked?"

"Yes, sir."

"Roger that." The radio came back down. "Unlock the doors."

"_Please_," Curoe pressed, "we'll tell the government whatever you want!"

"UNLOCK THE DOORS!!"

The words echoed in his ears as he stood grimacing, daring not say any more. He turned to face the control panel, barely able to see through his mounting tears. His trembling hand hovered over a row of switches, each bearing a number but otherwise unmarked. It would take the soldiers several minutes to reach the door nearest Shadow, he knew, but as soon as the locks were disengaged, the others would come rushing in. With only seconds to think, he reached past the toggles to a slider, brushing it as far up as it would go, then depressed two buttons near it.

Shadow flinched as the sizable deadbolts snapped loudly out of the doors' unseen cavities. He peered over his shoulder to the window with weary eyes. At the same time, small dome lights mounted on the opposite walls began to emit flailing red beams of warning, and between them, a thick glass partition rose from the floor. He blinked at it, puzzled; he hadn't seen it in use since the days he worked with the biolizard. Glancing again at Curoe, he noticed the man was making discreet pointing gestures—but his groggy, naive mind was not piecing the clues together fast enough.

The partition was coming up about two inches per second, but to Curoe each second was a heart pounding eternity. He held his breath as Strauf spoke into the radio, "Unit Alpha, enter and shoot on sight." The door on the left opened moments later, and five men jogged in with guns at the ready. Curoe couldn't stand it any longer; he snapped on the intercom and shouted with unmistakable urgency.

"Shadow, _run_!!!"

Just now sitting up, Shadow barely had time to even look at the soldiers before they opened fire. He reeled back as several bullets lodged in the rising glass, then scrambled to his feet and dashed for the nearest door. As he watched him do so, Curoe suddenly became aware that a cocked pistol was trained at the side of his head.

"Take that thing down _now_," the commander growled, his free hand shutting off the intercom. After briefly shrinking away, the researcher was quick to comply. Strauf's stony eyes swept aside to observe the now sinking partition. "Thank you." A single shot rang out in the control room, followed by the dull thud of Curoe's body striking the floor. Bloody glasses tumbled to a stop nearby. Strauf replaced his weapon and lifted the radio once more. "All units, this is Commander Strauf. Project: Shadow is on the loose, and the research facility staff has chosen to employ hostile force against us. You are hereby under orders to shoot anyone who interferes with your objective. Over and out."

* * *

"I've got a plan," Silver whispered to Sonic as the two made their way back to the corner of the plaza. Despite their efforts, they had been prohibited from leaving the room by the four soldiers who remained there on post. Every door was guarded.

"What's that?" Sonic returned, looking a bit distracted.

Silver pointed to the central support beam. "You go over there pretending to be sick, and while the guards are distracted, I'll use my psychokinesis to pick up the potted plants and knock them out, then I'll tear out that decorative railing over there and bend it around them to hold them so they can't follow!"

Sonic blinked. "Uh…I was thinking we could just use our Chaos Emeralds to warp out." The other hedgehog was quiet as he turned his head aside with a blank expression. Finally he reached over his shoulder to scratch his itchy mantle, and a few words stumbled out.

"…Yeah, that'll work."

At the soonest opportunity, the hedgehogs induced Chaos Control and escaped the confines of the plaza. Once clear, they quickly reviewed their plans before setting them into motion.

"Okay, first things first," Sonic uttered quickly. "You head straight for the escape pods to make sure the coast is clear, and I'll go get Maria. After that, we go for Shadow."

"Yeah, and remember," Silver added, "we agreed _not_ to help any other victims, 'cause it's too much of a risk." Just changing history with her, he felt, was scary enough.

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Yeah yeah yeah. C'mon, let's get started!"

Making up for lost time, the Blue Blur tore through corridors at a much faster rate than originally intended. It didn't take him long to reach the residential sectors. His heart raced as he rapped on door 514, more from excitement than exertion. A quick sigh of relief escaped him when she answered. "Maria, hey, need you to come with me," he rattled off, keeping his tone upbeat so as to keep from frightening her. The girl was nonetheless concerned.

"What's going on?" she asked as she stepped out. "Is something wrong?"

"Eh, there's a bit of a problem at the research center, so we kinda need to get outta here."

"What happened?" She gasped. "Did something happen to Shadow??"

"Um, it involves him, but don't worry; he's coming too! We just need to get you taken care of first. You remember the promise I made to you, right? I just need you to trust me on this."

She answered in a fearful breath, "Okay…." He took her hand in one of his, then summoned his Chaos Emerald into the other and lifted it up. "Chaos…Control!" When their surroundings snapped back in place after another grueling warp, Maria opened her eyes to see Sonic drop the emerald and nearly collapse to the floor. She gripped his arm and tried to help him regain his balance. "Are you okay??"

The blue hedgehog broke into a dazed smile. "Heh…whew! Wore myself out with that one!"

Seeing that her friend was all right, Maria glanced about. "I didn't know you could do this too…!"

"Eh, Shadow's a little better at this sort of thing, but I picked up a trick or two!" Once he'd retrieved and dematerialized the gem, he pressed a button on his wristwatch and spoke into it. "Hey, Silver, how's it look on your end?"

A distinctive voice emanated from the device. "All clear!"

"Great, we'll be there in a sec!" He looked up at Maria. "We should be close." Sure enough, they only navigated two more corridors before reaching the escape pod sector. The hedgehogs helped her into the largest, most comfortable pod they could find. "Don't worry," Sonic assured her, "we'll take care of things here. You just take care of yourself and make the most of things on Earth, 'kay?" She nodded, though fear was still deep within her shining blue eyes.

"Goodbye, Maria," Silver put in. "It was really great getting to meet you." A meek smile stretched his lips.

"Goodbye," she returned. "Please help Shadow, okay?"

"We will."

"That's what we're here for!" Sonic added, granting a thumbs up. With that, the pod hatch was sealed, and the hedgehogs activated its launch. They waited until it was out of the colony and well on its way to Earth before turning their attention to the next task at hand. "Okay, now to get Shadow!"

To their surprise, the door to the Chaos chamber's control room was unlocked. Inside, a grisly scene offered plenty of explanation. Sonic leaned over Curoe's lifeless body, checking for a pulse. After a while he shook his head. "He's gone…."

Silver examined the neighboring chamber. "It looks like Shadow got away. Dr. Curoe must've been shot for helping him…."

"Heh, who'd have thought, huh?" Sonic gently pressed the deceased's eyes shut and got to his feet. "He could be anywhere by now, so we'd better split up. You check the research side and I'll check the other."

"Got it!"

Almost all of the corridors were eerily empty at this point. Figuring Shadow would check Maria's room, Sonic decided to head there first. Another disturbing sight awaited him in that sector, however. Hunched on the floor, sobbing and clinging to his blood-spattered mother, was Toby Curoe. It only took Sonic one look to know she was dead—but why her??

"Poor kid," he mumbled under his breath. Brat or not, he'd just lost both parents, and no agreement with Silver was about to make him just leave the boy here. Getting him to willingly leave his mother's side would be tricky, though. "Toby," he called breathlessly as he drew near, "what happened to your mom?"

The child moaned an explanation among broken breaths. "The GUN people…came and shot her…."

Sonic had hoped for something a little more specific, but he didn't think it'd be a good idea to press for more. "You want to help her, right?" He went on at the boy's nod, "Then I need you to come with me so we can get help." His ploy did the trick; though very distraught, Toby agreed to go with him. Together they navigated the colony's maze to the research facility. The people here were the closest to the Curoes, so Sonic considered this their best bet. What he hadn't counted on was the additional chaos within the main office network. More victims lay wounded on the tables and floor, receiving first-aid at the hands of their shaken colleagues. This whole event, Sonic realized, was turning out much worse than he'd imagined. He scanned the individuals present for someone of a dependable air; a young woman by the name of Dr. Thatcher seemed to fit the bill, so he had Toby wait in one of the empty offices and approached her to explain the situation. With her promise to look after the boy, Sonic bid a reluctant goodbye. As much as he wanted to stay and help, there was an even more urgent matter demanding his attention.

Silver, meanwhile, wandered the outermost borders of the facility, an outstretched hand at the ready, just in case. The only sounds he could hear as he went were his footsteps and anxious breaths, until he detected a feeble groan from around the corner just ahead. Practically throwing himself into view, he stood prepared for the worst, but only a solitary bleeding man lay before him.

"Dr. Gibbens…?" he recalled, having met him a few days prior. Dull eyes opened and lifted to him pleadingly.

"H-help," his voice scraped out, and he reached out a blood-stained hand. Silver took a step back and closed his eyes, shaking his downward head.

"I'm sorry…I can't…." He turned and began to head back the way he'd come, but Gibbens' cries grew even more desperate.

"No, please…help me………please…."

The hedgehog winced to himself as he came to stop again. He stood motionless with fists clenched at his sides for several seconds, then pivoted back to the ailing man. "Can you get up at all?" he inquired, slipping an arm behind him. The two struggled to get him to his feet, but with nearly 300 pounds of cellulite working against them, it was all but mission impossible. Finally Silver stepped back and fanned a hand. "How 'bout this?" Gibbens' robust body suddenly glowed bright green and lifted from the floor with minimal effort. The hedgehog frowned as dark blood dripped from his subject to the floor. There wasn't a moment to lose. He hurried down the passageway toward the medical facility, inwardly grateful that it neighbored the research center. Care was taken not to bump Gibbens into anything along the way, but the man's size made it a particularly daunting task. There was little doubt in Silver's mind by the time they reached the medical ward's entrance that the patient to be was a bit worse for the wear, but considering the alternative, he was sure he wouldn't complain. After turning him over to the medics, the hedgehog consoled himself as he went on his way. "I wasn't really _helping_ him so much as letting other people help him…and he probably would've survived anyway…."

Nearly half an hour had passed by the time the two hedgehogs met up again. Though his scent had been picked up in several sectors, neither had found any trace of Shadow otherwise.

"Knowing him, he's probably already long gone," Sonic suggested, running his hands over his quills in a release of nervous energy. He blinked irritably as he caught sight of the ecosphere in Silver's hand.

"I hope so…." After a moment's thought, Silver nodded. "Yeah, you're probably right."

Sonic pulled his Chaos Emerald out from behind him. "What do ya say we get the hell out of here?" His friend eagerly followed suit.

"Sounds good to me!"

The emeralds were lifted up, and out rang the collective command, "Chaos…Control!!" This time Sonic went first, and only Silver looked back before jumping into the waiting rift.

Early dawn's darkness greeted the hedgehogs upon their return home. Though he'd had them taken to his own residence, Sonic stumbled like a stranger over furnishings on his way to the nearest light switch. To his dismay, flipping it did no good.

"Aw man, the power's out!"

"Ow!!" Silver jerked his leg back after poking it on something sharp.

After tripping over yet another object, Sonic grunted in frustration. "C'mon, let's go outside!" The pair carefully made their way to the front door and opened it to a crimson sky. "Oh cool…I'd forgotten how nice the sky looked!" Sonic's smile faded as he pressed the Indiglo button on his watch and checked the time. It was four o'clock—in the _afternoon_. A dumbfounded gape muddled his maw as he paced out and looked around. As his eyes adjusted, it became apparent that his house, as well as those around it, were in ruins. At this point he wasn't even sure if the house was his. A short distance behind it, a massive and menacing black form did a blobular dance. It lifted several red-streaked tentacles to the sky and let out a deafening alien screech.

His hands over his ears, Silver shouted as best he could over the racket. "Something must have gone wrong!!" In similar pose, Sonic turned to him with a stormy leer.

"Ya think?!"


	7. Bloodline

**Author's Note:** My apologies for the horrendous delay between chapters! It's been very, very busy for me lately, but I'll do my best to finish the story this month. Thanks much for your patience and continued support!

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Chapter 7 – Bloodline

"I've murdered us all!!" Silver's panicked voice echoed between mutilated houses as his fingers raked over his ears until coming to rest at the base of his quill crown. His shallow breaths halted at the outbreak of his friend's laughter, and he stared at the blue hedgehog in blank disbelief.

"Dude…chill!" Sonic tucked part of his smile away before continuing. "Yeah, it's a mess, but it's not like we were expecting everything to come out perfect the first time through! --You weren't expecting that, were ya?"

"W…but…y-you mean you were expecting to have to go back…?"

The grin reemerged, and a hand slapped Silver's arm. "C'mon, you're the supremo time traveler! You should know better than anyone that this stuff never goes right on the first try!"

"Heh…." Silver's face seemed caught between residue fear and sheepish amusement.

"We just need to figure out what prob'ly went wrong and then patch things up accordingly," Sonic continued. He rubbed his chin for a moment before cackling again. "If you thought this was a one-time deal, why were _you_ in such a hurry to leave?" His eyebrow cocked as the pale hedgehog's face flushed even brighter red.

"I thought…well, you know…you seemed to know what you were doing!" He turned back toward the monster alien just in time to see it whip one of its massive tentacles into the roof of the house they were just in, sending several shingles airborne. A gasp escaped him, and he bolted toward the structure.

"Silver, hold up!" Sonic quickly dashed after and grabbed one of his twin quills, jerking him back. "If we fix things in the past, we don't have to worry about things here."

"Yeah, but I left my ecosphere in there!" Silver jerked free of his gaping friend and scrambled inside the house while the alien continued its rampage. Shedding his revulsion, Sonic turned his attention to the creature.

"Hey!" he shouted to it through cupped hands, then waved. "Why don't you try picking on somebody not your own size?" He backed up a bit as the alien clambered over the house after him. Dodging its sluggish movements was laughably easy; he ran circles around it until its tentacles were a tangled mess. As it struggled to unravel itself, he stood gazing upon its form with his head atilt, as if considering a piece of modern art. "Tch…never did get this stuff!" His chuckle was cut short as a much smaller and thinner tentacle suddenly jutted between his legs and wrapped around one, yanking him off his feet with a high-pitched yelp. He blinked at a second alien as he dangled upside down. Though it was a fraction of the size of the first, its trapjaw set of teeth made it far more menacing an opponent. "Whoa!" His legs split straight apart as the creature began to lower him into its mouth, his feet just catching its slimy edges. "Easy there!!" Beads of sweat formed on his brow as he held the position while the hungry monster lurched side to side trying to dislodge him. The bigger alien, meanwhile, had corrected itself and was now closing in as well. "_Silver!! _Wanna get your ass out here?!" He glanced up and saw his much-needed comrade finally emerge.

"I got it!" With a leap and an open-handed dive to the ground, Silver unleashed a wave of psychokinetic force that rendered both aliens immobile. The larger one was levitated and hurled into a house across the street. Silver then climbed onto the other and grabbed Sonic's waiting hand.

On the ground, the blue hedgehog let out an extended groan as he rubbed his thighs. "Ohhhhhhhh…gonna feel that in the mornin'…."

"We need to get out of here or we're not gonna be around to fix anything!" Silver urged, glancing nervously about. Sonic lifted his eyes in a venomous glare at both him and his ecosphere. He summoned his Chaos Emerald as he straightened back upright. Gold eyes rested on the gem as the other was brought out. "Back to the ARK, right?"

"Right."

Chaos Control was induced, and within moments the heroes were returned to the space colony under siege. They appeared within Maria's room, which aside from the girl's belongings stood empty.

"Now what?" Silver looked to Sonic, anxious.

"Well, considering that Shadow's the one who stopped the alien invasion, I'm thinkin' that either something happened to him here or that he wasn't sealed away after his escape," Sonic mused. "He's usually pretty good about taking care of himself, but we may have thrown a few things outta place…."

"So, we should find him and make sure he gets out, right?"

"Yeah, that'd be a good start. C'mon, let's hurry!"

The two emerged from the room and headed down opposite ends of the corridor. While Sonic's search took him into the depths of the research facility, Silver's route led to more residential sectors. The pale hedgehog entered every hall and turned every corner with his hand at the ready. For an area that served as dozens of people's living quarters, it was eerily quiet. Just beyond that sector, in a multi-level room harboring crude lifts and catwalks, three GUN soldiers stood pointing their weapons toward one of the upper floors. Silver froze as they fired. Were they shooting at Shadow?? He soon got his answer, as the black hedgehog suddenly leapt down and attacked, taking out all three with a series of quick but savage blows. There was a brief silence as he stood over them, his eyes daunting.

And then came more shots.

Three bullets, fired in rapid succession from above, pierced Shadow's back and exited his chest. He reflexively jumped back, moving himself out of the gunner's sight beneath the ledge, but collapsed to the floor seconds later. Silver snapped from his shock and raced forth in what felt like slow motion. His heart wadded tight as he watched the soldier descend to their level and take aim once more. His hand stretched wide, reaching, pleading, as several more shots were fired.

Both human and hedgehog stood motionless in the moments that followed. The man's eyes grew wide.

"What the…?!" He staggered back, gaping at the cluster of glowing bullets floating before him. Silver drew his first breath since his arrival.

"Leave…now…or these will get used on _you_…."

Staring saucer-eyed at the unexpected interception, the soldier pressed himself against the wall behind him and sidled along it to the door on his right. His hand found the switch, and as soon as the door had slid open he fled out, leaving Silver alone with his wounded friend. The bullets clattered to the floor as he knelt beside Shadow, who was heaving breaths through clenched teeth. One hand covered his bloody chest while the other attempted to push him to his feet, unsuccessfully. "Come on," Silver grunted while helping him up, "we need to get out of here fast!" One step, and Shadow slumped into him. Silver eased him back down and peeled his hand away for a better look at his injuries. They were worse than he'd thought; all of Shadow's chest fur was soaked red, and a great deal more blood was soaked into his own. As he lay before him now, it was even beginning to drip from the corner of his mouth. Silver grimaced, thinking of the wool-based dressings they had in his time that could halt profuse bleeding like this in under a minute…and yet he sat here helpless.

"M…Maria…" Shadow managed in a strained breath, lifting his head. "Find Maria…."

Silver returned his desperate gaze with one of assurance. "Maria is safe. We got her out." The once fiery crimson eyes then closed, and with a silent nod, Shadow rolled his head back. Though his expression still betrayed his pain, his body seemed to relax. He was letting go. "Wait, hold on, we need to get you out too!" Silver shook the dying hedgehog, receiving little more than a wince in reply. He sighed in unnerved exasperation and pushed a button on his communication device. "Sonic…."

"You find him??" the responding voice asked.

"Yeah…." Silver paused for another glance, then twisted away and lowered his voice. "…But he's been shot…and I don't know if he's gonna make it…." The optimism resided in his words only; there was no way he was going to make it.

"Where are you? What sector are you in?"

"Umm…" he searched the walls for a mark. "…J22."

"Stay put; I'll be right there!"

Sonic arrived to find Silver sitting on the floor, still supporting Shadow's limp body. It was dreadfully clear that their fallen friend had already expired. Anxious hope crossed Silver's face as he looked up.

"We can fix this, right? All we have to do is go back again!"

Sonic stood with his arms crossed, briefly surveying it all—the blood, the body, the three downed guards—before he spoke. "Well…sure, yeah. Easy enough. We just gotta make sure to get here before they do."

"They aren't the ones who shot him. I saw everything. I know what we need to do." Silver slid his arms out from under Shadow and got to his feet. "All I need is a moment!"

"Hey! That's my line!"

"Then it's time to prove it," Silver retorted, retrieving his emerald once more. Sonic resummoned his as well, and the gems were lifted in unison for the fourth time.

By now the words were well synchronized. "Chaos…Control!" The moment the rift opened, Silver jumped in. Sonic was quick to follow. The pair emerged in the very same sector, having rewound time by minutes only. The three soldiers were just entering the far door, one of whom was advising the others.

"Thatcher said he's up there!" He pointed to the upper levels with his weapon. He was about to say something else when his scanning glance caught sight of the two hedgehogs. The trio turned, and as both sides locked eyes, time stood still for a fleeting moment.

Whether it was the fact that they were of the same species as the target or that one of them was drenched in blood wasn't clear. Perhaps it was a combination of the two. Whatever it was, the men did not hesitate to open fire. A spray of bullets erupted in the hedgehogs' direction, but with a stroke of the hand, Silver captured every last bit of the advancing ammo.

"Go stop the guy up there!" he directed Sonic with a nod towards the ledge. "I'll handle these guys."

"Gotcha." While Silver edged toward the soldiers, who cursed as they continued in futility to fire, Sonic hopped up, rolled himself in classic fashion, and bounced straight off the floor toward the second level. Not making it quite high enough, he dropped back down and bounced again, this time rocketing several feet higher. He dashed forth and landed on the platform just as Shadow was descending from the third level. Kneeling in the space between them, a solitary soldier threw up his empty hands.

"I'm not armed!! Don't hurt me, please!"

Sonic frowned, remembering Silver's words. His eyes fell on a wooden crate nearby. Shadow stood frozen, shifting his uncertain glances between them. He blinked as Sonic hurled himself with a homing attack into the crate, splintering the box and sending its contents skidding across the floor. Sure enough, a fully automatic rifle was among them. The now pale man swallowed hard at his exposure. He lunged for the gun, but his speed was no match for Sonic's, and after having it snatched from before him, he found himself staring up the barrel. He scrambled backward crab-style and bleated a more sincere plea. "D-don't shoot!" His head met the force of a metal skate as Shadow relayed his disgust with his intentions. Sonic couldn't help but smirk at the knockout.

"Guess that takes care of that!"

On the bottom level, having run the three soldiers out the door through which he'd originally come, Silver pondered the effect of his present actions on those of a few minutes prior. He thought to himself that he should have entered the room by now, but apparently sending the soldiers that way had either delayed or deterred it…or was there some weird paradox inability for himself to be in two places at once? He flinched from his thoughts as Sonic and Shadow landed next to him.

"Oh good, you got him!" he breathed in relief.

Shadow's brow dove sharply at the sight of him. "…You okay?"

"Oh…uh, yeah, I'm fine." He brushed his free hand over his chest but only managed to smear the blood. "Come on, we need to get out of here!!"

"You go," Shadow declined. "I need to find Maria."

Sonic clutched Shadow's shoulder as he began to turn away. "Maria's long gone. We got her out!" The ultimate life form turned back quickly.

"You got her out??" The rigid edge to his eyes seemed to melt away at Sonic's nod.

Silver glanced up from his ecosphere. "All that's left is to get you out now!" After a few seconds, Shadow nodded, and at last they had his full cooperation.

Navigating to the escape pod sector from that point was easy; with the three of them together, no GUN soldier stood a chance. As Shadow entered the pod that would take him to Earth, he peered back at the hedgehogs who'd saved his and Maria's lives.

"I won't forget this."

Sonic's grin remained long after the pod had launched, though by that time it had slipped into something more of a grimace. He sighed.

"Pleeeeease do."

Minutes later, Sonic and Silver dropped from yet another rift into the yard of Sonic's home. The sky was blue, birds were singing, and there were no aliens to be found. After a quick look around, the two exchanged hopeful glances.

"…I think we did it!!" Silver blurted once he'd caught his breath. He'd be holding it since they'd left the ARK.

"Seems so…" Sonic agreed, "but let's not get too excited just yet. We need to make sure everything's as it should be." He led the way into the house, finding it inside to be more or less the way he'd left it. Just one more test. He took a deep breath and shouted a familiar phrase. "I'm home!!"

"Daddy's home!!" Out scurried little Misty to greet her father, like clockwork. As he embraced his princess, he blinked and looked up at the sound of another, unfamiliar voice.

"Daddy!!"

A young hedgehog boy emerged from another room, and aside from his royal purple hue, he looked almost exactly like Sonic. He raced up and threw his tiny arms around his dad and sister as best he could.

Silver had never seen Sonic's eyes so wide.


	8. Reams of an Absolution

Chapter 8 – Reams of an Absolution

The boy was small, clearly younger than Misty, with a slight chub to his apricot cheeks. His eyes were hunter green and looked on adoringly into those of his speechless father while both children carried on about the frivolous highlights of their day. Several seconds of this ensued before Sonic had regained enough composure to speak.

"…Sounds like you two had quite a day…!" A couple of glances humored Misty, but he couldn't help but linger on the boy. "So………uh……."

"Sonic?" Amy's voice carried from downstairs. She ran smoothing hands over her quills as she made her way up. "What are you doing home so—oh, hello!" Tilting slightly aside, she smiled at the guest whose face peeked through the door.

"Hello," Silver greeted rather reservedly, mindful to keep the rest of himself out of view. Sonic blinked and glanced over his shoulder at him, recollection dawning on his face.

"Oh, oh yeah, Silver got into a bunch of red stuff, and he needs to wash up." He gestured the otherwise ash-toned guest in. "It, uh, looks like blood, but don't worry," he added with an uneasy chuckle.

All eyes were on Silver as he shifted reluctantly into the doorframe. Amy made a face but quickly forced another smile. "Oh my! The bathroom's right over here," she informed him with an escorting hand pointed its way. Her lip wrinkled back into a frown as his boots left faint red traces with each step across the cream carpet.

"What happened??" Misty squeaked, trailing behind him until her mother's hand caught her arm.

"Uhh, it's a long story," he sufficed over his shoulder. Once he'd shut himself in the bathroom, Amy sent the kids to their rooms to play and headed into the kitchen. After watching the boy scamper off, Sonic followed her, rubbing the back of his head thoughtfully.

Her voice carried from the fridge as she rummaged inside. "I wish you would've given me some notice that someone was coming over…and it would have been nice to properly introduce us, you know."

Sonic raised an eyebrow. "Introduce you?"

"Yeees," she dragged the word out. "Who is he, one of your co-workers?"

"…No, that's Silver! You don't remember Silver??"

She glanced around the fridge door. "No…when did I meet him?" The only sound for a while emanated from the refrigerator compressor as Sonic shifted his eyes in consideration. Finally he laughed and shrugged.

"I……I'm not sure…!" He leaned back against one of the chairs facing the island counter behind him, then stumbled a bit as it scooted with his weight. His arms crossed and he snorted a quick sigh.

Odd as Amy's unfamiliarity with Silver was, there were more important things to address.

"So, uh…what have the kids been up to today?"

"Oh, the usual. Iris thought it'd be fun to go bowling using bricks as pins, and you can take a wild guess who got to be the ball."

His ears perked up. "Who?"

"Her three-year-old little brother who's not old enough to be getting thrown into rock-hard objects, that's who. Poor thing ended up with a bloody nose." After a pause she mumbled to herself, "Where the heck did I put it…?"

"Iris had a bloody nose?" he feigned confusion.

"No, he did."

"He did what?"

She twirled about and glared, her tone growing flustered. "_He_ got a bloody nose!"

"From a bowling ball?"

"No!!" The fridge door swung shut. "_Iris_ gave _Spree_ a bloody nose using _him_ as a bowling ball!"

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhh!" A wide grin formed on Sonic's face. "Spree, huh? Heh heh!"

She blinked off her annoyance as she brought a brick of cream cheese to the counter across the room and proceeded to peel off the wrapper. "Why are you so spacey today?" The question met another shrug.

"Guess my brain's fried from bein' around Silver."

"What happened to him? He looked worse than Spree did!"

"Oh, you know, big GUN fight with bloody bodies, that sorta thing," his answer kept a casual tone. Amy just sighed, assuming it to be made up. She dumped the cheese brick into a bowl, sprinkled on a variety of seasonings and other ingredients, and handed it to Sonic along with a large spoon.

"Stir this for me for a minute, and I'll be right back." She then headed into the hall and knocked lightly on the bathroom door. "Silver? Would you like to stay for supper? We're having crab-stuffed mushrooms."

Both kids piped up from their rooms. "Ewwwww!!"

"And Poh-kee-mon macaroni and cheese."

"Yaaaaaaay!!"

Silver could be heard chuckling. "That'll be great! Thank you." When he emerged fresh and clean several minutes later, the children were quick to home in.

"Mr. Silver," Misty called from behind, "what's that you're holding?" He turned to them and handed it over, and both kids examined it closely as she held it up to the light.

"It's an ecosphere. It's got lots of little things in there that all work together in balance."

Spree reached for the orb, but she lifted it just out of his reach. "I wanna see!!" he whined.

"What's it do?" she went on, ignoring him. "Is it like a Magic Eight Ball?"

"It's not really a to—no, don't!!" Silver snatched it out of her hands as she began to vigorously shake it. Eyes wide, she propped her hands on her hips.

"Hmph! How boring." She stuck her nose up and brushed past him into the kitchen, Spree staring somewhat blankly over his shoulder as he followed.

Soon the evening meal was steaming on the table, and all the hedgehogs seated themselves around it. Misty was allowed to say grace. She pressed her hands together and put on her cutest face.

"Dear God, thank you for the food. Amen."

As Sonic chuckled and patted his daughter on the head, a smear of blood on his glove caught Amy's eye. "Sonic, go wash your hands before I lose my appetite!"

"Huh?" He turned his palms up and spied the stain. "Oh…must've gotten some of that stuff from Silver on me!" Silver frowned in thought as Sonic left the table. After a few moments he turned to Amy.

"So how's Mercury been?"

"Mercury?" She glanced up from spooning Spree a generous helping of pokemon-shaped pasta, seemingly waiting for him to say more.

"Have you seen him lately?"

She cracked an apologetic smile. "Mercury who?"

Silver's mouth hung limp and his face paled a bit. "…I…think I may have the name wrong…." He twisted sharply in his chair. "Sonic??" his voice cracked.

A rush of blue wind met the table, and Sonic's chair suddenly teetered as he all at once landed in it. "All right, fork over some of those crab caps!"

"Sonic…." Silver leaned in. "The kid's name is Mercury, isn't it?" Sonic nodded, and Amy looked up again.

"Who's Mercury?" She blinked in confusion at her mate's widened eyes, who found himself scrambling for an answer.

"He, uh, was that kid that…that hung around our old apartment."

"What was he?"

"A hedgehog…."

Amy squinted at the table for several moments. "Huh…I don't remember him, either!" She laughed a little at that. Sonic seemed lost in thought himself, but the contemplation was brief before he broke out into a beaming grin. Silver blinked and cast his eyes down, increasingly unnerved. It took him a minute of picking at his mushrooms to muster up enough courage to ask the next question.

"…What about Shadow?"

Now Amy was really beginning to look confused. "Shadow?" Her eyes jumped to Sonic, then back. "The hedgehog?" A breath of initial relief left him as he nodded. "W…what about him?" she implored.

He considered his words carefully. "Well…when was he last seen…?"

"Hmmm…." There was a lingering pause as she consumed some of her meal. Growing tired of the uninteresting subjects, Misty took the opportunity to interject one of her own.

"Me and Spree played bowling today!" she declared proudly despite the scolding she'd received that afternoon.

"So I heard," Sonic fielded the pitch. "And I heard it didn't go well."

A playful pout formed on her lips. "I told him not to look up!"

Letting Sonic handle Misty's bid for attention, Amy returned her own to Silver. "The last time I personally saw him," she began, leaning toward him a bit to be heard over her daughter's continued boasting, "it was on that Black Comet the aliens came on, just before he died. Why do you ask?"

Silver couldn't respond right away, having nearly choked on his iced tea. He coughed a few times and heaved a breath. "Uhh...just wondering…." His dismayed glance to Sonic received only a cocked eyebrow in return. He hadn't even been listening.

A short while later, Amy eyed Silver's half-eaten mushroom as he was excusing himself from the table. "Sorry we didn't have more to choose from," she expressed, thinking he hadn't cared for the dish.

"Oh, it was fine," he assured her, though his words were heavy. "I'm just not feeling very well…." She in turn offered a variety of remedies from the household arsenal, but he politely declined. Retrieving his ecosphere from the living room hutch, he took a weary seat on the couch and gazed without interest upon the oblivious world within.

Sonic was in no hurry to join him. He polished off the remaining portobellos as well as what the kids left of the macaroni, then spent the evening becoming acquainted with his son as they played together. Well after sundown, Amy stretched in the doorway of the kitchen, where she had been tending to bills.

"I think I'm going to bed for the night," she commented, her eyes falling on Sonic. "You going to stay up a while longer?"

"Uhh, yeah, a little while," he replied from the living room floor next to Misty and Spree. She nodded and gestured to the children.

"Come on, kids, time for bed." Both whined but clambered to their feet and departed down the hall with their mother. Shortly after Amy entered her bedroom, Silver hurried out, bidding good night. He headed back into the living room and stepped over Sonic on his way to the couch. Not inclined to get up just yet, Sonic folded his arms behind his head and gazed with a giddy grin at the ceiling.

"He's like a miniature carbon copy of me!" he chuckled after a few seconds of silence. "I mean, except for the colors. But he's got my poses down and everything! Hah hah hah!" He glanced at Silver, who remained gloomy and silent. "…Porn sites didn't help, huh?"

Silver's eyes darted the blue hedgehog. "For your information I was doing some research," he muttered, leaning back and crossing a foot over his knee. "Shadow defeated the Black Arms aliens, but he died in the process."

"He's dead?"

"Yeah. I found a lot of articles and pictures of him from the years before that, and Maria was in some of them, so she seems to be okay, but…." he trailed off.

Sonic blinked with thoughtful interest. "How far back did those go?"

"There were some dated right after he got off the ARK, but I couldn't read 'em without paying since they were scanned archives."

"Huh! So I guess he never got sealed away." He sat up. "Damn, that means he lived over fifty years before taking on Black Doom. No wonder he didn't make it!"

Silver sighed. "So how are we gonna fix it?" The silence following the question lingered a bit longer than expected, and he looked down to find Sonic staring at him awkwardly.

"…Who says it needs fixing?"

"W-uh, of course it needs fixing! He's dead!"

"But he got to live over fifty years with Maria," Sonic pointed out. "He lived a long, full life with the one he loved most." Now leaning forward, Silver sat speechless for a moment, then shook his head.

"What about Mercury? What about his lineage?"

Sonic shrugged. "Can't make an omelet without breakin' a few eggs, right?" The remark met a repulsed gasp.

"Well that's all fine and easy for _you_ to say, you with your mate and your daughter and now a son to top it all off! The whole point of our doing this was to help _him_—but we've destroyed him! We've destroyed his future!!"

"Did it ever cross your mind that maybe it's better this way?" Sonic snapped back. "For all we know we may have avoided a crisis down the road by keeping his alien blood out of the Mobian race! Yeah, it's a shame he didn't make it, but he prob'ly wouldn't have lasted that much longer anyway!"

Both hedgehogs froze when the master bedroom door opened and Amy poked her head out. "Is everything okay out here?"

"Everything's fine," Sonic answered, turning back to Silver with a pointed glare, "_as long as nobody screws with it._"

She blinked at them with tired eyes. "…You coming to bed soon?"

"Yeah, in a minute."

After the door closed, the two maintained several seconds of tense silence, until finally the bitterness seeped from Silver's expression. "…Well, don't let me keep you. Your perfect life's waiting." A similar scowl was returned to him as Sonic got to his feet, but he said nothing before heading off down the hall. Left to himself, Silver breathed a grueling sigh.


	9. In the End

Chapter 9 – In the End

Sleep did not come to Sonic that night. Somewhere between tossing and turning and accidentally kicking Amy and nearly rolling off the bed, Silver's points finally punched a hole through his hollow rationalization of a happy ending. At its core festered the rotten reality of a failed objective, a life he'd helped destroy.

And it wasn't Shadow's.

His life had been long and graced with Maria's presence, after all. But Mercury, the decidedly expendable casualty, the broken egg who Sonic spent those restless hours trying to truly convince himself was better off having never been born, had barely gotten started. Did the boy's grief-laced life and the bitter circumstances under which it began really warrant his exclusion—or beg that he be given a chance for something better?

And what about his descendents?

His head began to ache thinking about it, the individuals who would never be, and how the world would be impacted by their absence. Maybe even one of Silver's good friends….

SILVER!!!

Sonic sat bolt upright in bed, finally understanding why Amy hadn't recognized him. Whatever illusions of justification remained for preserving the present circumstances now dissolved in his sour stomach, like an unattainable dream. At last it was clear; no matter what it meant for his own life, he simply couldn't leave things this way. He was benefitting at the expense of others, and it wasn't right.

Creeping through the house, Sonic squinted in the dark at the living room sofa, trying to tell if Silver was there. He wasn't. A quick check of the other rooms also turned up nothing. The search ventured outside just as daybreak was beginning to unveil its glory into the scantily clouded sky. Sonic leaped to the roof for a better view, but he didn't have to look far. Seated just shy of the A-frame's peak was Silver, facing the coming sun with an expression steadfast enough to have been etched into his namesake. Only his ear twitched in acknowledgement of Sonic's arrival.

"Hey," a somewhat airy greeting gauged the emotional climate as he took a seat on Silver's left. No words were returned, but it was clear from his friend's face that there were a million things he wanted to say. He blinked several times, his breath suspended within him, unsure where to begin. Sonic offered a rare gesture of patience in maintained frivolity. "Get any sleep?"

Silver's head dropped a bit. "No…." He drew a new breath. "I…I was thinking…and…I'm sorry about snapping at you earlier. I guess I wasn't taking time to see things from your side. I mean, getting a son of your own is a pretty big deal and all. It's just that…this whole thing was my idea…and I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive myself if I don't set things right for Shadow…so I was thinking that…maybe we could work out a compromise, you know, see about at least giving him a chance for a family…even if it's not Mercury…."

There was a brief silence before Sonic shook his head. "…No." He quickly put up a hand to halt Silver's reaction, then continued, "There can be no compromise. Shadow needs to live, and so does Mercury." Glancing away from Silver's widened eyes, he swallowed the growing lump in his throat. "…And as much as I hate to say it…I think Maria needs to die."

Only a single, breathless word came back. "_Why??_"

"Because…it was losing her that made Shadow strong. Her death is the key to his life…and the others down the line…." He paused, glancing over the features of the hedgehog who was destined to descend from the ultimate life form.

"But-"

"It was meant to be, and we had no business screwing with it. If you really want to help Shadow, this is the only way you're gonna do it."

Silver turned aside with a stuttering sigh, floundering again in his thoughts. "After all this…we're just…giving up??"

"We're not giving up, Silver. We're returning things to how they're supposed to be. I don't wanna do it either, but it was wrong to change it in the first place. It wasn't our place."

The two continued to converse matters until the sun was well risen and imposing its own feisty outlook, prompting their retreat indoors. Amy stood in the kitchen pouring blueberry-dotted batter into a heart-shaped waffle iron, and the children were at the table devouring the first few batches.

"Oh there you guys are!" she greeted over her shoulder with morning-person perk. "Would you like some waffles? They came out really good this time!"

"Mm hmm!" Misty vouched, raising her sticky fork as if the torch of liberty. "Mommy's the waffle queen!" Spree offered a fervent nod as he smacked.

"Ehh," Sonic sighed, his eyes having wandered to his son, "I think I'll just get something on the road." With an appetite likewise absent, Silver relayed the same.

Amy wet a paper towel and wiped up the drizzles of syrup Spree had gotten on the table. "Okay, but you two don't know what you're missing!" The comment seemed all too far from the truth for Sonic, who emitted a humorless laugh.

He then forced a more upbeat tone. "Well, we're gonna head out now." As the family bid their goodbyes, he leaned over and planted a kiss on Misty's head. "Be good, Princess." A hand reached across the table and rested gently between Spree's ears, but to him he could say nothing. After a few moments he turned and waved to Amy as he backed out the kitchen door. "See ya tonight!" He hurried outside while Silver went to retrieve his ecosphere, taking advantage of the moment alone to quickly wipe away his tears.

Closing the front door behind him, Silver wore an uncertain frown. "You're sure this is the only way…?"

"I don't know," Sonic admitted, "but considering what's on the line at this point, I don't think it'd be a good idea to experiment." As they summoned their emeralds, Silver gazed into his gem's many facets.

"…We won't be the ones to…you know…do anything to her, will we…?"

"All we need to do is make sure things turn out the way they originally did. I've got an idea for it, so just follow me when we get there, 'kay?"

Silver nodded, and the two raised their emeralds for what they hoped would be their last trip to the ARK. "Chaos…Control!"

Moments after their arrival just outside of the testing chamber in which Dr. Curoe had taken his final breath, gunshots could be heard coming from one of the adjoining sectors. "This way," Sonic directed as he sprinted toward the opposite door. Silver struggled to keep up.

"Where exactly are we going?"

"The residential sectors."

Several doors later, Sonic peered behind him with mounting impatience. "Today, Silver!!" The slower hedgehog stood nearly a yard down the passageway with his hands braced on his knees, panting.

"Wouldn't it…be faster…if we went left back there…instead of this way?"

"…Yeah," Sonic replied hesitantly, "but, uh, I don't wanna mess with what happened down there last time."

"What happened last time??"

"I just…ran into some people…."

Silver looked up, squinting. "This wouldn't happen to be how you got blood on your hands, would it? I heard you tell Amy it came from me, but you never touched me, and you never touched Shadow either."

"…I've got a soft spot for injured people, okay?! Call me crazy!"

"No wonder this is such a mess," Silver muttered, shaking his head. "We can't even stick to our own rules!"

"Yeah, well, how 'bout we save the petty bickering for later and focus on this now?" Sonic backtracked to Silver's side and abruptly lifted him overhead.

"Hey!!" The surprised passenger instinctively curled up a bit as they picked up speed. After navigating several more sectors this way, Sonic eased to a stop in front of yet another major door.

"Okay," he began, dumping Silver off, "this is where you come in." Silver rubbed his behind as he got to his feet.

"What do you want me to do?"

"Use your powers to make it so this door won't open. That way I can intercept myself so that Shadow reaches Maria before I do!"

"Hmm…but what if you just warp through it with the Chaos Emerald?"

"If I know myself, I'll rely on speed any day over Chaos power," Sonic assured him. "I'll head for the next closest door and try to get there that way."

"So we're going to need to disable other doors too, right?"

"Right."

Silver nodded and fanned out his free hand before the massive sector gate. His body glowed brightly, and within seconds a disturbing creak began to emanate from the thick metal. A portion of it slowly bowed toward them, almost like someone was trying to blow a bubble from the other side.

"That should do it."

Sonic walked up and depressed the control switch, and sure enough, the door made all kinds of mechanical sounds but refused to budge. He nodded approvingly.

"All right, now for the rest!"

For the most part things went pretty smoothly, with Sonic carrying Silver to save time and Silver trying not to think about the purpose behind his efforts. After disabling the fourth door, leaving only one path from the residential sectors to the escape pods, they worked their way toward the research facility with the intention of directing Shadow should he come through.

Only it wasn't Shadow they found.

Within the observation sector, from which they could see the Earth and the moon and the countless stars, both hedgehogs stood frozen. At the other end, Commander Strauf trained his semi-automatic pistol on them.

"You're the ones who were reported to be working with Project: Shadow. Tell me his location _now_!" His ominous tone made it clear that the gun was by no means an empty threat.

Sonic took a cautious step forward, an eyebrow cocked at the man's uniform. "Easy there, big guy. Are you the one responsible for this? What's your beef with Shadow anyhow? I know he's not the most pleasant guy to be around, but don't you think this is a little extreme?"

Strauf's eyes narrowed. "You've got five seconds."

The trademark smirk emerged at that. "Sheesh, and I thought Dr. Curoe was uptight! You know, the one you guys murdered, among others?" Furiously clenched teeth gave only a split second's warning of the shots that followed. Right on cue, Silver intercepted each of the bullets, which then bobbed menacingly toward the shocked officer.

"You're a sick, disgusting bastard," Silver uttered, boldly approaching, "but now _I'm_ the one giving orders. Stand aside, or you'll find out what it feels like to be on the receiving end of these."

"You'll be passing through here," Strauf growled, "over _my dead body_!!" He lunged at Silver wielding a dagger he'd freed from his belt, grabbing a fistful of his chest fur and swinging to end his life. The entire cluster of ammunition was hurled forth in a reflexive reaction, one slug of which struck Strauf's shoulder, thwarting the attack. The rest of the bullets flew past him and instead struck the nearest window in a thunderous shatter. Instantly the glass was gone, and overcome once more with the sensation of slow motion, Silver found himself levitating for the first time without using his powers. He watched Strauf's jaw creep open with a mortal cry of terror as his body was yanked mercilessly through the gaping panel into space. Likewise, all he could feel was the burn of his lungs as his own scream ripped from them. He was halfway out the window when a hand caught his arm, sparing him from certain death in its strained grasp. He turned his head to see Sonic pulling desperately, his teeth gnashed tight and his other hand gripping the tiny border of the neighboring window. Silver issued a new wave of psychokinetic energy, jerking a ceiling panel free and slamming it over the hole. His foot pushed against the partial coverage, helping him further resist the suction as he retrieved another panel. Once it was in place, both hedgehogs fell to the floor, safe at last.

Rasping in the disrupted air pressure, Silver stumbled to his feet and checked his ecosphere, which he'd managed to hold onto throughout the ordeal. He then glanced at Sonic, who hopped up, dusted himself off, and smoothed his quills back in place.

"Thanks, Sonic…I owe you one."

"Heh, that's twice now I saved your butt! You owe me big time!" Ignoring Silver's confused expression, he took off for the door. "C'mon, I've got an idea." He led the way through the maze to the colony's main plaza, and once they were inside, he gestured with a nod at one of the soldiers still posted by the doors. "Think you can slip the radio off big dude over there without him noticing?"

Silver blinked at the hulking man. "…Maybe."

"How 'bout we try that little distraction idea you mentioned earlier? I'll get his attention, and you get the radio."

"Okay."

With that, Sonic raced off to the food court. He plucked several raisins from the salad bar, rolled each in his fingers, then proceeded to fire them off at the soldier's face through a drinking straw. It only took two.

"Hey!!" he bellowed. "Knock it off!"

"Sorry, man!" Sonic's hands went up defensively. "Just playin' around!"

The trooper dismissed him in a huff. "Stupid animal…." Sonic glanced past him to Silver, who gave a thumbs up.

Soon the hedgehogs were huddled in the corner with the radio in hand. Sonic clicked the dial on top. "Let's check the channels on this thing." While tuned in to setting 5, they exchanged looks listening to a few men discuss their loss of contact with Commander Strauf. "Dooon't think you'll be getting in touch with him," Sonic quipped. Eventually a directive was issued to report to Lieutenant Hambridge from then on.

Shortly after, another transmission came across. "Lieutenant, this is Sergeant Thatcher, over."

"This is the lieutenant; go ahead."

"Sir, Project: Shadow has escaped the colony. He was sent to Earth in a cargo pod. Over."

"He launched himself in a cargo pod?!"

"He had an accomplice, sir. We-"

"Has the accomplice been detained?"

"No, sir, the accomplice was shot. Over."

"Dead?"

"Yes, sir."

As the relay of communications continued, the hedgehogs sat in sullen silence, their apparent success evoking scant relief amidst the sorrow. Sonic closed his eyes and bowed his head, while Silver scanned the crowd of people still unaware of the carnage that had just taken place.

"Well…guess that's that," Sonic finally said as he looked up. He waited on Silver, whose eyes remained averted, distant. A listless thumb contoured the edge of his ecosphere in lazy strokes, gently bobbing the coral within. Nearly a minute passed before a voice emerged from him, barely sounding like his own.

"I hope we did the right thing."

Many words of encouragement and comfort came to Sonic's mind at that point, but all he could manage was one. "Yeah."

Another hour went by before anyone was allowed out of the plaza, but neither of the somber heroes was in any hurry. As colony residents began to return to their offices and living quarters and news of the dead began to spread, a convenient lie was passed along with it that there had been a terrible accident at the research facility. Disgusting as it was, it was a promising sign.

Once they'd managed to secure some privacy, Sonic and Silver called on the emeralds' power once more to return home. Say the words, jump in the rift, get squeezed out somewhere else…by now the entire process was quite familiar. Where they ended up this time, however, was not. A dusty stretch of bare earth was all that greeted them upon their arrival to the present. Blinking at the pale brown plume that swirled up from his feet, Sonic quickly skimmed his surroundings, then snapped his eyes to Silver. "Where the heck you take us?!"

"To your home!" he insisted, obviously just as confused. "I don't know, maybe I was distracted or something…."

The nearest manmade structures in sight looked to be over a mile away but offered big-city promise. Sonic wasted no time heading for it.

"C'mon, let's go up there!" he called behind him.

Up was definitely the word for it. The entire way there was a mild but unceasing uphill trek. It didn't begin to level off until they'd nearly reached the outskirts of the city. Once there, they took in a peculiar sight; it was as if things went straight from no man's land to downtown Station Square. As they wandered the streets and scanned the businesses on each side, an even more disturbing realization dawned on Sonic. This _was_ downtown Station Square.

"_This_ is Station Square?!" Silver gasped, not believing his ears. His jaw dropped all the more when he turned back to the area where they'd landed and could clearly see from his new vantage point that it was a massive crater. Sonic gazed over it as well, though appearing more nauseated than surprised.

"What's left of it…."

A quick round of research confirmed their fears; half of the city had indeed been destroyed, right along with the hundreds of thousands of lives it harbored. The cause, according to news articles, was a single Mobian, a hedgehog by the name of Shadow. He'd ignited the sacrificial Chaos explosion in order to ward off an invasion by the alien species known as the Black Arms, a last resort effort after all others had failed. And all other efforts had failed, Sonic and Silver found, because the Eclipse Cannon, which had been built for the purpose of destroying the alien colony, had been dismantled. ARK survivor Dr. Richard Gibbens had seen to that. The only person who might have had the knowledge and power to prevent this tragic error, Commander Ian Strauf of the Guardian Unit of Nations, had perished aboard the ARK.

A twisted laugh escaped Sonic after reading the details on the screen. He doubled over in his seat at the cyber café and continued to laugh into his lap. Silver could only watch from his neighboring chair, unnerved by the almost eerie quality to it.

"…Sonic…?" he finally called after a prolonged silence.

"In the end," Sonic answered with his face still in his lap, "we ended up even worse off than we started." Laughter again emerged from him, only softer and quieter. It took Silver a moment to realize that, in fact, he wasn't laughing anymore. He peered back at the screen with tears beginning to form in his own eyes, the words "Black Arms" burning into them.

And then he stood up.

"I don't know about you," he rattled, "but I'm not about to give up! It's not going to end like this!" He glanced down at Sonic, whose face remained buried in his legs, but his slanted ear vouched that he was listening. "It's those stupid aliens who are causing all the trouble, so I say we deal with them ourselves, once and for all! Let's march right up to that freakin' Black Doom bas-"

"Excuse me," a café employee interrupted. "I'm going to have to ask that you keep your voice down, please." Silver froze with a determined fist still wadded before him.

"Oh…uh…sorry…!"

But Sonic had heard enough. He lifted his tear-streaked face and swept his palms across it, leaving an embittered sneer.

"If nothing else…at least he'll get payback."

Silver returned a firm nod. "Let's do it!"

* * *

Dr. Gerald Robotnik flashed an uneasy smile at the fearsome cloaked figure looming before him. A shaky hand touched to his throat as he cleared it.

"This…is a gift to you from my people," the old scientist declared as he extended a velvet pouch to the creature, none other than Black Doom himself. The alien king took it into his hands and turned it over, allowing a thick silver chain necklace with a jumbo-sized pendant to slip out into his palm. Robotnik had bought the accessory from Dr. Carlos for lack of anything better to present.

"…Your gift is well received," Black Doom replied, donning the chain. It made a complementing addition to the others already present. "And all you desire of me is a vial of my blood?"

"Yes, that's correct. Your blood will be instrumental in the creation of the ultimate life form that I seek to concoct. If you could provide a sample now, and then a fresh supply after the project is complete-"

"You desire that I return."

"Ah, yes, if you would…." Robotnik swallowed as Black Doom considered the request.

"Yes…………I believe this project will be one of great benefit…."

Some time later, as Black Doom was exiting the colony, he suddenly found himself paralyzed and enveloped in a green aura. A cobalt blue hedgehog then came dashing out of hiding at blinding speed.

"Good job, Silver!" His fierce homing attack landed squarely in Black Doom's face, sending the surprised alien slamming into the wall behind him. With a demonic growl, Black Doom lunged himself back airborne using a force similar to Silver's own. It took every bit of psychokinetic focus just to keep him at bay. Sonic, meanwhile, took to running on the walls in order to build up momentum for another blow. His trail made a large figure eight and then returned to the catwalk over which Black Doom levitated. The second smash was more powerful than the first, leaving the target injured and reeling.

Amidst the conflict, Dr. Robotnik emerged from the door leading out to the catwalk. He froze, eyes wide, watching in horror the deadly battle unfolding before him.

Though unable to maneuver, the enraged alien formed a flaming boulder with his dark powers, then launched it through Silver's barrier at Sonic while the latter was completing another windup.

"Sonic, watch out!!" Silver shouted, but too late. He flinched as the projectile made a crushing impact and split into several fragments. Moments later, Sonic dropped from the wall, bloody and limp. From his position, he was bound to fall past the catwalk nearly two hundred feet to a much more gruesome result. Silver had no choice; he released his hold on Black Doom to catch his friend. While his focus was diverted, Black Doom took the opportunity to summon three more brimstones and cast them his way. The psychokinetic's other hand whipped up, and though he managed to halt the stones while keeping his hold on Sonic, the ecosphere that had been in his grasp slung to the cold floor with a watery crash. "Shit!!" His grimace turned to a snarling rage. "Now you're _really_ gonna pay!!" The stones returned to Black Doom with unrivaled fury, two of which smashed into him soundly. The alien roared and swung his arm violently, unleashing an energy wave that rocketed the third stone back to Silver. Having just set down Sonic, the aura-cloaked hedgehog aimed his full power at the fiery rock. It instantly stopped before him, where it hung suspended for a few moments, then exploded into fine powder amidst his accompanying war cry. When he looked up, Black Doom was gone. "No…! Come back!! COWARD!!"

"Hey, Silver?" Sonic's voice called from behind him. He turned to see Sonic pointing to the door across the way. "We've got company."

Dr. Robotnik stepped cautiously forward. "…Are you two all right?"

To the hedgehogs' surprise, very little was asked of them regarding what had just transpired. They were escorted inside for medical attention, where Sonic insisted despite a bit of a limp that his wounds were not as bad as they looked. He was far more interested in addressing the alien threat, but his warnings only evoked laughter from the elderly researcher.

"Cannon? What cannon?" Robotnik asked, bearing a nervous smile as a fleeting glance was cast toward Dr. Gibbens across the table.

"The big one," Sonic stressed, doing a terrible job of keeping still while Gibbens attempted to bandage him. "The Eclipse one or whatever you call it. Tell your staff not to dismantle it! Countless lives hang in the balance!"

Gibbens tried to suppress his smile. "I take it he hit his head pretty hard."

"That alien dude is gonna be back, and he's gonna bring his whole army with him!" Sonic went on. "That cannon needs to be ready!"

Robotnik ran his enormous moustache between his fingers as he listened. "All right, all right, we'll be ready when the aliens come back. Don't you worry." Another glance was made at Gibbens. "Now then, why don't you tell me about those neat tricks you did? How do you move so fast?"

Sonic blinked. "Oh, uh, heh, speed just comes naturally to me." He peered at Silver, who was seated on another table behind Gibbens. "He's the one who did all the weird stuff."

"Like saving your life?" Silver snapped. "Which caused me to break my ecosphere?"

Sonic shrugged and muttered to himself, "At least that fight wasn't a total loss…."

"If you could turn your back toward me," Robotnik requested, "I'll give you a shot to help numb the pain." Sonic complied but stuck to his guns.

"It's really not that bad!"

"It's the least I can do."

Following treatment, the hedgehogs thanked the two researchers and bid them farewell, urging once more the importance of keeping the cannon intact. Again the plea met trivial assurance. "Oh, one more thing," Robotnik added, stepping briskly away into his office. He returned with another ecosphere in hand. "I was planning on giving this to my granddaughter for her birthday, but I'd like you to have it."

Silver gaped at the orb as it was set into his hands. "A-are you sure??"

"Positive. I can always get another," the old man chuckled.

"Wow…thank you!!" The sphere was gleefully lifted up for Sonic to see, who only rolled his eyes.

As they made their way back out onto the catwalk, the hedgehogs exchanged dismal glances.

"I'm afraid to go back," Silver mumbled.

Sonic nodded. "I honestly don't know what else we can do. Even if we went back and faced Black Doom again, I'm in no shape to fight him now."

Slowly the emeralds were drawn out, and after a bit of hesitation, they opened their rift leading home. Just before leaping in, Sonic pressed his eyes shut. "Pleeease let it be okay…."

When they emerged, they landed on a concrete sidewalk facing an immense parking lot. Behind them stood the Diamond Mill Mall, supplanting the waning daylight with its obnoxious neon arch.

Silver's eyes shifted about. "You took us to the mall?"

"I was just thinkin' anywhere but the house," Sonic confessed. "Nice to see that this is still here, at least."

"Sonic!" Silver grabbed his shoulder. "Look!!"

Walking around the corner towards them was Shadow the hedgehog. The emeralds had taken them right to him.

"Holy crap," the words hinged out of Sonic's ajar jaw, followed by a rusty laugh. "Never thought I'd be so glad to see him!!" He leaned like he was about to fall over but broke into a jog instead. "Hey, Shadow!"

As he came to a stop, Shadow raised an eyebrow at the bandages on Sonic's leg and head. "What happened to you?"

A thumb pointed over the shoulder at Silver. "That's what happened!"

"Yeah, all my fault," Silver agreed jestingly, joining them with a cordial wave of the hand. "Long time no see!" Shadow returned a single nod.

"Why are you here?"

"Just thought I'd take a vacation, see the world." He chuckled to himself realizing the vastly different ways he'd seen it. Then another thought occurred to him. "Oh, how's Mercury??"

Shadow blinked, seeming a bit surprised at the question. "He's well."

"Great!!" A relieved grin broke across Silver's face, but it folded upon noting Sonic's distant expression. He quickly changed the subject. "So, uh, how's your new job?"

"It's all right. Better than the last one."

"You about to start your shift?"

"In a couple of hours." Shadow's eyes fell on the ecosphere. "What's that you've got?"

"Oh, this?" Silver lifted it a bit but kept it near himself, suddenly nervous. "It's a souvenir I picked up…." He hesitated as the normally disinterested hedgehog extended an expectant hand. Slowly it was turned over, and as he held it against the neon illumination, Shadow made a strange face.

"………Hm." It was all he said before handing the ecosphere back. Sonic and Silver exchanged glances.

"Well hey, if you haven't got anything else going on," Sonic spoke up, "wanna come with us and get a bite to eat?" The question met a sort of glower, but that was nothing unusual.

Silver's eyes lit up. "Yeah, there was this dish I heard about during my travels that I was wanting to try, where you put peanut butter on pepperoni pizza!" He nearly cracked up at Shadow's widened eyes. Similar amusement brimmed in Sonic's grin.

"So what d'ya say?"

Shadow considered for a moment. "…Not like I have anything better to do."

"That's the spirit!" A cackle slipped from the blue hedgehog. "C'mon, let's hit up Vinnie's, my treat!"

It was a special occasion, after all. Not only had the blood of the Black Arms race been acquired, but another unique sample as well. Gerald Robotnik lifted the syringe he'd used to secretly draw from the blue hedgehog just before administering the shot. He felt a little guilty about it, but after watching him move at those incredible speeds, he simply had to have it. A drop of the blood was ejected onto a slide, which he then examined. After a few minutes, he picked up the phone.

"Mr. Protz, hello. This is Dr. Robotnik. …Yes, yes, everything's been well, thank you. I was just calling to see how the DNA acquisition for the ultimate life form project is coming along. ………Hm, I see. So it's been delayed again. Well, in that case, please tell them to go ahead and cancel the request. We were able to get a donor up here, so I already have just what I need."

* * *

**Author's Note:** Hope you enjoyed this latest installment of my Sonfic series! I very much appreciate your readership and support and would LOVE to know what you think! Please take a moment to post your comments; it'd mean a lot to me, it really would, and it'll help me improve my future work. Thanks so much! 'Til the next adventure, take care and God bless! ^^


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